The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected Republic Tobacco's attempt to overturn a 2021 jury verdict that found the company illegally copied HBI Innovations' trade-dress packaging design for RAW® Organic Hemp rolling paper products. The April 25, 2025 ruling affirmed that Republic willfully copied RAW's distinctive packaging and advertising designs for its OCB® Organic Hemp products, marking a significant victory for the independent rolling paper manufacturer after nine years of litigation.
Josh Kesselman, founder and president of HBI, emphasized the importance of authentic innovation in the industry. "As we've said in the past, our industry benefits when people in this space are truly familiar with the products and consumers' preferences," Kesselman stated. "We hope this ruling helps Republic accept that its litigation assault was a waste of time and money. True innovation benefits everyone."
The legal battle began in 2016 when RAW® contacted Republic about the similarity between RAW's Organic Hemp packaging and Republic's OCB® Organic Hemp paper packaging. Republic responded by suing RAW® in federal court in Illinois, seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement. RAW® counterclaimed for infringement, leading to a complex legal confrontation that included Republic alleging that RAW products constituted "marijuana paraphernalia" and were therefore illegal—a claim that did not survive to trial.
After five years of discovery and a multi-week trial, a jury in 2021 concluded that Republic had willfully infringed the RAW® Organic Hemp trade dress with Republic's 99-cent version of its OCB® organic hemp product and had willfully infringed RAW's copyright-protected "Sold Here" sign. The jury awarded over $1 million in damages to RAW, which with prejudgment interest brought the total award to nearly $1.5 million. Kesselman noted that all net award proceeds—totaling in the high six figures—were donated through the RAW Giving initiative to various charitable organizations.
Kesselman characterized the lengthy legal battle as part of a broader pattern, stating, "Over the last 20+ years Don Levin and Republic Tobacco have tried to eliminate RAW® as competition, because we completely disrupted their business model of older, thicker, white papers. But instead of competing in the marketplace with innovation and quality, Levin and Republic seem to be trying to litigate their way to it, by exploiting the judicial system to control the marketplace and eliminate their competition."
The case background reveals that RAW® launched its Organic Hemp line in 2009, while Republic introduced its similar OCB® Organic Hemp product in Europe in 2010. When Republic brought the product to the US market in 2014, the legal confrontation began. The jury also found that none of RAW's product statements violated the federal Lanham Act, though it did find for Republic on Illinois Deceptive Trade Practices Act claims. Additional court documents from the proceedings can be found at https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/OpinionsWeb/processWebInputExternal.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2025/D04-25/C:23-3096:J:Hamilton:aut:T:fnOp:N:3364605:S:0.
This ruling establishes important precedent for intellectual property protection in the cannabis accessories industry, particularly regarding trade dress—the visual appearance of product packaging that identifies its source. For smaller companies competing against larger tobacco corporations, the decision reinforces that distinctive branding elements cannot be copied simply by using different brand names. The outcome demonstrates that courts will protect innovative design elements that have become distinctive in the marketplace, providing crucial legal protection for companies that have invested in developing recognizable brand identities.
