High Times IP and other assets back on the market after 2024 attempt to sell goes up in smoke
6 Mar 2025
The assets of the famous (possibly infamous) long-running US magazine High Times plus various retail outlets trading under the brand name are back on the market after a 2024 attempt to sell them collapsed.
And industry news site MJBiz Daily reported at the end of last month: “The intellectual property of cannabis brand High Times, including its fading iconic magazine, Cannabis Cup events and trademarks, are back on the market… The assets, which also include photographs, joke books, calendars and internet-domain names such as 420.com are for sale until March 4, according to marketing materials from Green Life Business Group, a San Diego brokerage house handling the liquidation.”
High Times, the magazine, was launched in 1974 as a one-off parody of Playboy, with cannabis plants replacing the naked ladies, including for the centre-fold. It was an instant success, and ran until 2024, spawning a range of other cannabis related IP and a successful website. The website was still active in November 2024, covering, as it says, “the budding cannabis industry.”
Unfortunately, to fund expansion, High Times borrowed as much as $28.8m from a Chicago-based lender, ExWorks. But ExWorks ran into financial problems and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2022 after one of its main backers, CIBC, declared its loan in default. ExWorks had a loan book of around $400m.
“A third-party credit lender [CIBC] has taken control of High Times assets that include several California dispensaries, two brand name trademarks, a cannabis product manufacturing and distribution center, a cannabis cultivation property with a 300-light grow, and the web domain 420.com.”
“The action took place in April [2024], shortly after the company shuttered several California dispensaries without notice, leaving employees unpaid and several licenses poised to expire or be surrendered. CIBC Bank sued to have a receiver appointed, and now assets valued at around $11 million are being sold through auctioneer Green Life Business Group.”
Apparently, CIBC was concerned that the closure or sale of various retail outlets would significantly reduce the assets available for disposal, hence the move to bring in the receivers. As CRB Monitor said, “the CIBC Bank attorneys and the ExWorks receiver were able to show the court they needed more control before High Times’ management damaged the remaining valuable assets.”
Interestingly enough, one key asset that supposedly attracted a lot of attention was the website address 420.com. 420 is code for the time of day people are supposed to get together and smoke marijuana, after a cannabis subculture reference coined in the 1970s. This has also spawned the observance around the world of April 20th (4/20 in American date usage) as a day to promote the cannabis counter-culture movement and agitate for the legalisation of cannabis.
Supposedly, the receivers for High Times had been negotiating a “six figure” sum for 420.com, which is a registered trade mark in the US.
Other High Times assets are its multiple trade marks registered in the US, UK, Europe, Jamaica, and Japan, plus other territories, which include High Times, Hemp Times, Miss High Times, Cannabis Cup and Dope Magazine, to name a few.
High Times also owns a number of copyright registrations in the US. Copyright is automatically generated when someone creates something in the US, as is the case in most other countries; but a quirk of US law requires registration of copyright for damages to be payable if the owner successfully sues someone.
Appropriately, today, March 6th, is celebrated as the ‘Day of the Dude’ in the semi-serious modern religion, Dudeism – a reference to the Coen Brothers stoner comedy The Big Lebowski, which was released on this day in 1998 and which features Jeff Bridges as permanently stoned Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski.
The assets of the famous (possibly infamous) long-running US magazine High Times plus various retail outlets trading under the brand name are back on the market after a 2024 attempt to sell them collapsed.
And industry news site MJBiz Daily reported at the end of last month: “The intellectual property of cannabis brand High Times, including its fading iconic magazine, Cannabis Cup events and trademarks, are back on the market… The assets, which also include photographs, joke books, calendars and internet-domain names such as 420.com are for sale until March 4, according to marketing materials from Green Life Business Group, a San Diego brokerage house handling the liquidation.”
High Times, the magazine, was launched in 1974 as a one-off parody of Playboy, with cannabis plants replacing the naked ladies, including for the centre-fold. It was an instant success, and ran until 2024, spawning a range of other cannabis related IP and a successful website. The website was still active in November 2024, covering, as it says, “the budding cannabis industry.”
Unfortunately, to fund expansion, High Times borrowed as much as $28.8m from a Chicago-based lender, ExWorks. But ExWorks ran into financial problems and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2022 after one of its main backers, CIBC, declared its loan in default. ExWorks had a loan book of around $400m.
“A third-party credit lender [CIBC] has taken control of High Times assets that include several California dispensaries, two brand name trademarks, a cannabis product manufacturing and distribution center, a cannabis cultivation property with a 300-light grow, and the web domain 420.com.”
“The action took place in April [2024], shortly after the company shuttered several California dispensaries without notice, leaving employees unpaid and several licenses poised to expire or be surrendered. CIBC Bank sued to have a receiver appointed, and now assets valued at around $11 million are being sold through auctioneer Green Life Business Group.”
Apparently, CIBC was concerned that the closure or sale of various retail outlets would significantly reduce the assets available for disposal, hence the move to bring in the receivers. As CRB Monitor said, “the CIBC Bank attorneys and the ExWorks receiver were able to show the court they needed more control before High Times’ management damaged the remaining valuable assets.”
Interestingly enough, one key asset that supposedly attracted a lot of attention was the website address 420.com. 420 is code for the time of day people are supposed to get together and smoke marijuana, after a cannabis subculture reference coined in the 1970s. This has also spawned the observance around the world of April 20th (4/20 in American date usage) as a day to promote the cannabis counter-culture movement and agitate for the legalisation of cannabis.
Supposedly, the receivers for High Times had been negotiating a “six figure” sum for 420.com, which is a registered trade mark in the US.
Other High Times assets are its multiple trade marks registered in the US, UK, Europe, Jamaica, and Japan, plus other territories, which include High Times, Hemp Times, Miss High Times, Cannabis Cup and Dope Magazine, to name a few.
High Times also owns a number of copyright registrations in the US. Copyright is automatically generated when someone creates something in the US, as is the case in most other countries; but a quirk of US law requires registration of copyright for damages to be payable if the owner successfully sues someone.
Appropriately, today, March 6th, is celebrated as the ‘Day of the Dude’ in the semi-serious modern religion, Dudeism – a reference to the Coen Brothers stoner comedy The Big Lebowski, which was released on this day in 1998 and which features Jeff Bridges as permanently stoned Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski.
The assets of the famous (possibly infamous) long-running US magazine High Times plus various retail outlets trading under the brand name are back on the market after a 2024 attempt to sell them collapsed.
And industry news site MJBiz Daily reported at the end of last month: “The intellectual property of cannabis brand High Times, including its fading iconic magazine, Cannabis Cup events and trademarks, are back on the market… The assets, which also include photographs, joke books, calendars and internet-domain names such as 420.com are for sale until March 4, according to marketing materials from Green Life Business Group, a San Diego brokerage house handling the liquidation.”
High Times, the magazine, was launched in 1974 as a one-off parody of Playboy, with cannabis plants replacing the naked ladies, including for the centre-fold. It was an instant success, and ran until 2024, spawning a range of other cannabis related IP and a successful website. The website was still active in November 2024, covering, as it says, “the budding cannabis industry.”
Unfortunately, to fund expansion, High Times borrowed as much as $28.8m from a Chicago-based lender, ExWorks. But ExWorks ran into financial problems and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2022 after one of its main backers, CIBC, declared its loan in default. ExWorks had a loan book of around $400m.
“A third-party credit lender [CIBC] has taken control of High Times assets that include several California dispensaries, two brand name trademarks, a cannabis product manufacturing and distribution center, a cannabis cultivation property with a 300-light grow, and the web domain 420.com.”
“The action took place in April [2024], shortly after the company shuttered several California dispensaries without notice, leaving employees unpaid and several licenses poised to expire or be surrendered. CIBC Bank sued to have a receiver appointed, and now assets valued at around $11 million are being sold through auctioneer Green Life Business Group.”
Apparently, CIBC was concerned that the closure or sale of various retail outlets would significantly reduce the assets available for disposal, hence the move to bring in the receivers. As CRB Monitor said, “the CIBC Bank attorneys and the ExWorks receiver were able to show the court they needed more control before High Times’ management damaged the remaining valuable assets.”
Interestingly enough, one key asset that supposedly attracted a lot of attention was the website address 420.com. 420 is code for the time of day people are supposed to get together and smoke marijuana, after a cannabis subculture reference coined in the 1970s. This has also spawned the observance around the world of April 20th (4/20 in American date usage) as a day to promote the cannabis counter-culture movement and agitate for the legalisation of cannabis.
Supposedly, the receivers for High Times had been negotiating a “six figure” sum for 420.com, which is a registered trade mark in the US.
Other High Times assets are its multiple trade marks registered in the US, UK, Europe, Jamaica, and Japan, plus other territories, which include High Times, Hemp Times, Miss High Times, Cannabis Cup and Dope Magazine, to name a few.
High Times also owns a number of copyright registrations in the US. Copyright is automatically generated when someone creates something in the US, as is the case in most other countries; but a quirk of US law requires registration of copyright for damages to be payable if the owner successfully sues someone.
Appropriately, today, March 6th, is celebrated as the ‘Day of the Dude’ in the semi-serious modern religion, Dudeism – a reference to the Coen Brothers stoner comedy The Big Lebowski, which was released on this day in 1998 and which features Jeff Bridges as permanently stoned Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski.
The assets of the famous (possibly infamous) long-running US magazine High Times plus various retail outlets trading under the brand name are back on the market after a 2024 attempt to sell them collapsed.
And industry news site MJBiz Daily reported at the end of last month: “The intellectual property of cannabis brand High Times, including its fading iconic magazine, Cannabis Cup events and trademarks, are back on the market… The assets, which also include photographs, joke books, calendars and internet-domain names such as 420.com are for sale until March 4, according to marketing materials from Green Life Business Group, a San Diego brokerage house handling the liquidation.”
High Times, the magazine, was launched in 1974 as a one-off parody of Playboy, with cannabis plants replacing the naked ladies, including for the centre-fold. It was an instant success, and ran until 2024, spawning a range of other cannabis related IP and a successful website. The website was still active in November 2024, covering, as it says, “the budding cannabis industry.”
Unfortunately, to fund expansion, High Times borrowed as much as $28.8m from a Chicago-based lender, ExWorks. But ExWorks ran into financial problems and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2022 after one of its main backers, CIBC, declared its loan in default. ExWorks had a loan book of around $400m.
“A third-party credit lender [CIBC] has taken control of High Times assets that include several California dispensaries, two brand name trademarks, a cannabis product manufacturing and distribution center, a cannabis cultivation property with a 300-light grow, and the web domain 420.com.”
“The action took place in April [2024], shortly after the company shuttered several California dispensaries without notice, leaving employees unpaid and several licenses poised to expire or be surrendered. CIBC Bank sued to have a receiver appointed, and now assets valued at around $11 million are being sold through auctioneer Green Life Business Group.”
Apparently, CIBC was concerned that the closure or sale of various retail outlets would significantly reduce the assets available for disposal, hence the move to bring in the receivers. As CRB Monitor said, “the CIBC Bank attorneys and the ExWorks receiver were able to show the court they needed more control before High Times’ management damaged the remaining valuable assets.”
Interestingly enough, one key asset that supposedly attracted a lot of attention was the website address 420.com. 420 is code for the time of day people are supposed to get together and smoke marijuana, after a cannabis subculture reference coined in the 1970s. This has also spawned the observance around the world of April 20th (4/20 in American date usage) as a day to promote the cannabis counter-culture movement and agitate for the legalisation of cannabis.
Supposedly, the receivers for High Times had been negotiating a “six figure” sum for 420.com, which is a registered trade mark in the US.
Other High Times assets are its multiple trade marks registered in the US, UK, Europe, Jamaica, and Japan, plus other territories, which include High Times, Hemp Times, Miss High Times, Cannabis Cup and Dope Magazine, to name a few.
High Times also owns a number of copyright registrations in the US. Copyright is automatically generated when someone creates something in the US, as is the case in most other countries; but a quirk of US law requires registration of copyright for damages to be payable if the owner successfully sues someone.
Appropriately, today, March 6th, is celebrated as the ‘Day of the Dude’ in the semi-serious modern religion, Dudeism – a reference to the Coen Brothers stoner comedy The Big Lebowski, which was released on this day in 1998 and which features Jeff Bridges as permanently stoned Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski.
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Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.
Inngot's online platform identifies all your intangible assets and demonstrates their value to lenders, investors, acquirers, licensees and stakeholders
Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.
Inngot's online platform identifies all your intangible assets and demonstrates their value to lenders, investors, acquirers, licensees and stakeholders
Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.