Citibank has asked a California dispensary that has riffed off the bank’s name to stop using the moniker Citidank – although it’s unclear whether any sort of official cease and desist has been filed. In a back page ad in Coachella Valley Weekly, the Cathedral City-based shop said they cater to “all your danking needs.”
“Unless you are as high as a kite, you know that Citi isn’t affiliated with this business in any way and we have requested that they stop using Citi’s name and logo.” – Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for Citibank, to the New York Post
This isn’t the first time a cannabis company has borrowed from a traditional company. Last year, Tapatio Foods LLC filed a lawsuit against California cannabis company Payoso Grow over their use of Tapatio’s “Charro” mark – a man in a sombrero, yellow shirt, and red tie – for their Trapatio cannabis-infused chili sauce. At least one Trapatio mark also features a man in a sombrero, yellow shirt, and red tie; however, that mark features the man in a black ski mask with dollar signs adorning the rim of his sombrero. On another Trapatio mark, the red tie is obstructed by a bandolier (a bullet belt crossing over the chest) and the hat features cannabis leaves.
Cannabis company GG Strains LLC also settled their own trademark infringement case last year with the makers of Gorilla Glue adhesives. The adhesive company contended that the company’s strains – Gorilla Glue #1, Gorilla Glue #4, and Gorilla Glue #5 – violated the company’s trademarks. That settlement forced the Las Vegas-based cannabis company to transition from the Gorilla Glue names, any gorilla imagery, and to stop using the word “gorilla” by Sept. 19. GG Strains must also transfer its gorillaglue4.com domain to the adhesive company by Jan. 1, 2020.