Snoop Dogg’s signature catchphrase “Smoke Weed Everyday” cannot be trademarked by the artist because marijuana remains federally illegal and the slogan has become too popular in mainstream culture, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) says.
Dr. ETC Holdco, LLC—an entity affiliated with Snoop that owns his intellectual property portfolio—submitted a trademark application for the phrase in 2024. Then, nearly two years later, it received a denial letter from USPTO on Tuesday.
The federal agency, which falls under the U.S. Department of Commerce, gave two main reasons for the rejection: 1) Goods and services marketed under a trademark must comply with federal law, and “the application includes items or activities that involve a per se violation” of federal law, and 2) the phrase comes from a “song lyric commonly used in association with cannabis use,” making it too popular to exclusively trademark.
“To qualify for a federal registration, the use of a mark in commerce must be lawful under federal law in the sense that the commerce recited in the application complies with applicable federal laws that regulate the identified goods and/or services,” USPTO said. “If the goods or services with which a mark is intended to be used are prohibited by law, the applicant can neither use its mark in lawful commerce nor have the requisite bona fide intent to use the mark in lawful commerce. ”
The letter also explains how certain hemp-related terms and phrases could potentially be eligible for trademark registrations unlike those linked to marijuana because hemp and its derivatives were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill. However, because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declined to enact rules allowing for the lawful marketing of cannabinoids like CBD as a food items or dietary supplements, USTPO said it would similar deny trademark applications for those products.
The agency’s denial letter additionally said the registration was refused “because the applied-for mark is a slogan or term that does not function as a trademark or service mark to indicate the source of applicant’s goods and/or services and to identify and distinguish them from others.”
“In this case, the applied-for mark is an informational social, political, religious, or similar kind of message that merely conveys support of, admiration for, or affiliation with the ideals conveyed by the message,” it said. “Terms and phrases that merely convey an informational message are not registrable.”
To support its case, USTPO provided examples of the phrase “Smoke Weed Everyday” appearing on various products sold by retailers such as Amazon, Weed Dreams and Red Bubble.
“Because consumers are accustomed to seeing this term or phrase used in ordinary language by many different sources, they would not perceive it as a mark identifying the source of applicant’s goods and/or services but rather as only conveying an informational message,” it said.
Josh Gerben, an attorney and co-founder of Gerben IP, said in a blog post about the USTPO denial that Snoop’s company may appeal the decision, but “the most difficult” challenge the case presents “is the federal legality issue tied to cannabis sales.”
“The application identifies retail services involving cannabis products,” he said. “Under current Federal Law, marijuana remains illegal, and the USPTO routinely refuses applications tied to federally unlawful goods or services.”
“Taken together, the refusals create a steep uphill battle,” Gerben said. “Fortunately for Snoop Dogg, this refusal affects only the trademark registration…not the activity the phrase famously celebrates.”
Meanwhile, Snoop has been gradually expanding his cannabis enterprise over recent years. For example, last year, he brought another direct-to-consumer hemp lifestyle platform to market under his Death Row Records label.
In 2024, the artist also expanded his Smoke Weed Every Day (S.W.E.D.) brand with a separate direct-to-consumer retail platform selling hemp-derived cannabinoid products, smoking supplies and other merchandise.
That platform also acts as a directory for S.W.E.D.’s physical retail marijuana locations, including a Los Angeles dispensary and a coffeeshop in Amsterdam, both of which were announced in 2024.
Snoop, who’s referenced marijuana in songs and other performances for decades, has remained a cultural in the cannabis community as the drug has grown more mainstream. Today he regularly talks about his relationship with marijuana in interviews and TV appearances.
In an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2024, Snoop confirmed that his entourage includes a staffer tasked with making sure people he smokes with don’t get too high, telling them “that’s enough” when they’ve reached their limit.
It’s unclear if the person is the same Snoop disclosed paying upwards of $50,000 a year to roll blunts for him. Snoop estimated in 2019 that he consumes 81 blunts per day.
In 2024, meanwhile, the artist took on a new role as a guest meteorologist on the TODAY Show, taking viewers through a personalized marijuana-themed weather map featuring cities from Weed, California and Tokeland, Washington to High Point, North Carolina and Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel recognized Snoop’s cannabis legacy in 2023 when he declared the artist’s birthday, October 20, the “new high holiday” of DoggFather’s Day.
While he might be best known as a prolific consumer, Snoop has also advocated for reform, which includes calling for a policy change at the NBA so that players could freely use cannabis off the court.
He said that he supported the reform based on the “medical side of it, the health benefits and how it could actually help ease the opioids and all the pills that they’ve been given and the injections.”
Snoop has long been pushing athletics organizations to adopt lenient marijuana policies, often emphasizing that point that cannabis could serve as a less addictive and dangerous alternative to prescription opioids.
The artist had previously launched another marijuana brand, called Leafs By Snoop, in Colorado in 2015.
Image element courtesy of TechCrunch.
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