The Colorado company that invented the formula for MED-a-Mints, a popular cannabis-infused mint candy, has announced that it will sue Denver-based edibles manufacturer Dixie Elixirs for trademark violations. Inventor Gary Gabrel claims that Dixie Elixirs violated the contract between them when it changed the MED-a-Mints packaging, making its own name more prominent and removing the words “cannabis infused.”
The new label is dangerous, he says: “The label says THC infused, 100 milligrams. So you’ve got to have at least some knowledge to recognize that as a cannabis product. A twelve-year-old or a ten-year-old might not know.”
Gabrel claims his company, Bridge Marketing, entered into a licensing agreement with Dixie Elixirs in November 2012. The agreement, Gabrel says, worked like this: Bridge, which owns the MED-a-Mints recipe, provides Dixie Elixirs with a non-cannabis-infused powder that forms the base of the mints and then Dixie adds the cannabis oil and manufactures, packages and sells the finished product.
“We are imitating the business model of Coca-Cola,” he says, “where Coke manages the brand and makes the magic syrup and then ships it to bottling companies around the country and around the world.”
Denver Westword has more.