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Mealey's Tobacco

September 29, 2023
Supreme Court Asks California To Respond To Flavored Tobacco Ban Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 28 requested that California’s attorney general and the San Diego County district attorney respond to a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by tobacco companies and a retailers’ association that are challenging California’s voter-backed ban of flavored tobacco products.
September 29, 2023
Dunkin’ Donuts Files Infringement Action Against E-Cig Company For ‘Vapin’ Logo

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The parent company of the Dunkin’ Donuts chain and an affiliated company are suing an e-cigarette company and its CEO in New York federal court for trademark infringement, alleging that the defendants are illegally using a Dunkin’ Donuts-style logo design to boost sales of their “Vapin’ Donuts” e-cigarette products.
September 27, 2023
Vape Companies Liable For Underage Sales In Chicago, Judge Rules

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment filed by the city of Chicago and two Minnesota vape companies and their owner, finding the companies liable for sales of vape products to customers under age 21 in violation of Chicago law but ruling that their owner cannot be held liable individually and that the companies’ use of online age-verification systems does not constitute an unfair business practice.
September 22, 2023
Judge Certifies Classes Of Smokers Deceived By American Spirits ‘Natural’ Claims

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge published the redacted version of his opinion granting in part a motion to certify a class of smokers accusing three tobacco companies of mislabeling American Spirit-brand cigarettes as “natural” and “additive-free,” shortly after three tobacco companies petitioned the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for permission to challenge the certification order, which was previously issued to the parties under seal.
September 20, 2023
Judge Dismisses Ethanol Seller’s Suit Against Juul For Discriminatory Kit Sales

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge granted a motion filed by Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and one of its wholesalers to dismiss claims brought against them by a company that sells ethanol fuel blends and contends that JLI violated antitrust law by canceling plans to sell JLI e-cigarette products in a kit that included its ethanol fuel.
September 20, 2023
Juul MDL Judge Approves $255M Settlement, Rejects All ClaimClam Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) on Sept. 19 issued a final approval of a $255 million class settlement resolving economic loss claims brought against JLI on behalf of roughly 6.3 million class members and approved the rejection of “tens of thousands” of purported class members who filed claims through a third-party website while granting those individuals an extension to file timely claims.
September 19, 2023
Supreme Court Distributes Tobacco Companies’ Challenge To California Flavor Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court distributed for conference a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by tobacco companies and a retailers’ association that are challenging California’s voter-backed ban of flavored tobacco products after California officials waived their right to respond.
September 18, 2023
Government Urges High Court To Uphold ‘Bedrock Principle’ Of Chevron Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. secretary of Commerce, two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the government) urge the U.S. Supreme Court in a Sept. 15 brief to not overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference in a challenge to fishery regulations that were upheld by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, writing that doing so could “cause disruption” to complex federal regulatory schemes.
September 15, 2023
Panel Confirms Patentability Of E-Cigarette Technology In Blow To Philip Morris

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 15 that substantial evidence supports a final written decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that rejected Philip Morris Products S.A.’s assertions that a patented e-cigarette would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA).
September 15, 2023
9th Circuit Won’t Rehear Flavored Vape Company’s Challenge To FDA Ban

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 14 denied a combined petition for panel or en banc rehearing of a flavored vape company’s challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s ban of its products, which a panel previously rejected after finding that the FDA properly informed the company of its standards before banning their products.
September 14, 2023
Judge Dismisses $100M Suit Against Tobacco Company For Causing Man’s Addiction

FLORENCE, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge dismissed with prejudice a pro se plaintiff’s personal injury lawsuit demanding $100 million from a tobacco company after adopting in full a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation and finding the plaintiff’s suit deficient, in part because his claim that he was unaware of the health risks of smoking until June 2020 is “implausible.”
September 13, 2023
Philip Morris Appeals Order Applying Old Warnings To New Products To D.C. Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM) on Sept. 12 filed notice in a District of Columbia federal court that it is appealing to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a ruling that its new “HeatSticks” tobacco products are bound by the same “corrective statements” remedy imposed on tobacco companies in 2006 after they were found liable for a racketeering scheme to conceal the health risks of cigarettes.
September 12, 2023
Altria, United States Ask To Stay Taxation Suit Pending High Court Ruling

RICHMOND, Va. — Tobacco company Altria Group Inc. on Sept. 11 filed an unopposed motion to stay its action against the United States seeking a refund of roughly $106 million in income taxes that Altria says the U.S. Internal Revenue Service “erroneously collected” based on taxation of Altria’s foreign holdings, writing that the case should be stayed pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a related constitutional question.
September 11, 2023
E-Cig Buyers File Amended Antitrust Complaint Against Juul And Altria

SAN FRANCISCO — Purchasers of Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) e-cigarette and vaping products filed an amended antitrust class complaint in California federal court accusing JLI and Altria Group Inc. of artificially increasing prices based on anti-competitive conduct after a stay on the litigation was lifted following the Federal Trade Commission’s withdrawal of its antitrust complaint against the two companies.
September 11, 2023
Esco Bar E-Cigarette Maker Accuses FDA Of Wrongfully Banning Its Products

AUSTIN, Texas — The manufacturer of Esco Bar-brand disposable, synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes filed a complaint in Texas federal court accusing the Food and Drug Administration of improperly refusing to accept its premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs), writing that “FDA ignored relevant evidence, never articulated any lawful grounds for denying the PMTAs, and violated . . . its own regulations and guidance.”
September 08, 2023
Juul MDL Judge Gives Preliminary OK To $45M Settlement Against Altria

SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict e-cigarette litigation on Sept. 7 granted the lead plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval of a settlement resolving all remaining claims in the MDL for more than $45 million against Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries for the economic losses of class members who purchased Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) e-cigarettes.
September 06, 2023
Smoker’s Daughter Says Court Reversibly Erred By Not Summoning Jurors Over 70

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A deceased smoker’s daughter writes in an appellant brief to the First District Florida Court of Appeal that it should reverse a defense verdict rejecting her wrongful death Engle lawsuit against two tobacco companies based on the trial court not summoning any potential jurors over age 70.
August 30, 2023
2nd Circuit Won’t Rehear Flavored Pod Maker’s Challenge To FDA Ban

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a flavored e-cigarette pod manufacturer’s petition for panel or en banc rehearing of its petition for review of the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) banning sales of the manufacturer’s products.
August 30, 2023
D.C. Circuit Vacates FDA Ban Of Blu Unflavored Vapes, Upholds Ban Of Flavors

SAN FRANCISCO — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 29 granted in part the manufacturer of “blu” vapes’ petition for review of a Food and Drug Administration ban of its products, vacating the ban of the manufacturer’s unflavored products as “arbitrary” but upholding the ban of flavored products while separately denying a second petition the company filed as untimely.
August 29, 2023
Petitioner Defends Challenge To Synthetic Nicotine Patent, Seeks PTO Director Review

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In an Aug. 28 request for rehearing by the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of a denial one month earlier by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of inter partes review (IPR) of a synthetic nicotine patent, a petitioner says the board should have applied an “obvious to try” standard in its assessment of a motivation to combine various prior art.
August 28, 2023
Oral Arguments Pending In Mass. High Court Review Of Smoker’s Widow’s Loss

BOSTON — A smoker’s widow on Aug 28 moved to reschedule pending oral arguments before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just weeks after the court sua sponte transferred her appeal and all pending briefs to the court to address whether the widow was denied the right to a fair trial by the trial court’s imposition of time limits on the parties’ presentation of evidence.
August 24, 2023
Iowa Announces $171M Settlement With Tobacco Companies In MSA Dispute

DES MOINES, Iowa — The office of Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced that it has reached a $171 million settlement of a lawsuit the state filed in Iowa court contending that tobacco companies withheld more than $133 million in “bad faith” over the past 18 years by raising “deceptive” objections to the state’s compliance with the terms of a 1998 master settlement agreement (MSA) between the companies and the state.
August 23, 2023
San Diego Sues Retailers For Violating State Ban On Flavored Tobacco Sales

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Attorney’s Office on Aug. 22 filed a complaint accusing two businesses that collectively operate nine stores in San Diego of repeatedly violating California and San Diego’s bans of flavored tobacco sales and seeking civil penalties under California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
August 23, 2023
Flavored Vape Company Urges 9th Circuit To Reconsider FDA’s ‘Arbitrary’ Ban

SAN FRANCISCO — A manufacturer of flavored e-liquids for use with vaping devices filed a petition in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking panel or en banc rehearing of a panel’s denial of its bid for review of a Food and Drug Administration ban of its products, writing that the Ninth Circuit “overlooked” the fact that the FDA improperly adopted a rule banning flavored products while its application was pending.
August 21, 2023
6th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of Exploding Vape Suit Against Korean Battery Maker

CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a Michigan federal judge’s dismissal for lack of a personal jurisdiction of a lawsuit against a foreign battery maker brought by a man who was burned by an exploding e-cigarette, finding that the plaintiff’s evidence established sufficient contacts between the battery maker and Michigan.