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Mealey's Tobacco

March 29, 2023
Texas Supreme Court Questions Battery Maker On Jurisdiction In Exploding Vape Case

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court during oral arguments questioned a Korean battery-maker and its U.S. subsidiary about their argument that a trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over them in a personal injury lawsuit brought by a man who was burned after a battery they manufactured exploded in his e-cigarette device, which the man’s counsel argues was a “foreseeable” use of the product.
March 24, 2023
5th Circuit Keeps RJR Menthol Vapes On Market, Cites FDA’s ‘Secret’ Flavor Ban

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 23 granted two consolidated petitions to stay the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) banning sales of a tobacco company’s menthol-flavored e-cigarette products pending appeal after finding the company likely to succeed in its argument that the FDA imposed a “secret” ban of all flavored e-cigarettes without notifying e-cigarette manufacturers.
March 22, 2023
Tobacco Companies’ Suit Challenging California’s Flavor Ban Dismissed

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by tobacco companies and a retailers’ association against the California attorney general and San Diego County district attorney challenging a statewide ban of sales of flavored tobacco products, finding that the ban does not violate the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution and that the plaintiffs’ preemption argument is moot under Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals precedent.
March 14, 2023
Rehearing Sought Before 8th Circuit In Challenge To City’s Flavored Tobacco Ban

ST. LOUIS — Tobacco companies and retailers on March 13 petitioned the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for en banc or panel rehearing of their challenge to a Minnesota city’s ordinance banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products, arguing that a panel’s recent ruling upholding the ban conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent and could cause “regulatory bedlam.”
March 13, 2023
Judge Dismisses Tobacco Companies’ Suit Against FDA Opposing Graphic Warnings

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by several tobacco companies challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed new graphic warnings for tobacco products after the parties jointly stipulated to dismissal in light of a ruling nullifying the new warnings issued in a parallel lawsuit in Texas federal court.
March 13, 2023
Juul, Chicago Settle Youth Vaping Lawsuit For $23.8 Million

CHICAGO — The city of Chicago on March 10 announced that it has settled a complaint it brought against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), which agreed to pay $23.8 million to resolve claims that it illegally marketed its vaping products to youth in Chicago with “colorful, playful” social media marketing.
March 10, 2023
Vape Companies, Owner Say Court Improperly Found Jurisdiction In Chicago’s Suit

CHICAGO — Two e-cigarette companies and their owner on March 9 filed an amended motion for summary judgment in Illinois federal court on claims brought against them by the city of Chicago, arguing that the court improperly denied their motion to dismiss and found jurisdiction based on an estimated amount in controversy due to fines they could potentially face, while also seeking to exclude the city’s expert witness on youth marketing as “irrelevant.”
March 09, 2023
San Francisco Schools Urge MDL Judge Not To Dismiss RICO Claims Against Altria

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) urges the California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries to deny Altria’s motion for summary judgment on SFUSD’s claims for violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, rejecting the argument that a settlement it reached with e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) would render its claim for RICO damages a form of double recovery.
March 08, 2023
Massachusetts High Court Questions Timeliness Of Smokers’ Wrongful Death Suits

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court during consolidated oral arguments questioned attorneys as to whether the estates of two deceased smokers were barred from bringing wrongful death actions against tobacco companies after trial courts dismissed the lawsuits as time-barred based on the date of diagnosis of tobacco-related illnesses for the smokers’ injuries, rather than the date of death.
March 07, 2023
Tobacco Company Argues In Favor Of Juror Interviews After Smoker Wins $6.5M

BOSTON — A tobacco company on March 6 filed a brief in a Massachusetts court denying that it will “harass” jurors by calling them to ask questions about a recent trial at which they awarded $5 million to a smoker with laryngeal cancer who also received $1.5 million in prejudgment interest and urging the court to deny the smoker’s emergency motion to prohibit it from contacting jurors. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
March 06, 2023
Texas Supreme Court To Hear Battery Maker’s Challenge In Exploding Vape Case

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court granted two petitions for review, one filed by a Korean battery-maker and one by its U.S. subsidiary, which are seeking to challenge a Texas appellate panel’s rulings affirming a trial court’s finding of personal jurisdiction over them in a personal injury lawsuit brought by a man who claims that they manufactured the battery that exploded in his portable e-cigarette vape device, causing him severe burns.
March 02, 2023
U.S. Company Appeals Cancellation Of Trademarks In Cuban Cigar Dispute

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — An American cigar company recently filed an appeal in Virginia federal court seeking the reversal and vacatur of a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision canceling its trademarks in favor of Cuba’s state-owned tobacco company, which the American company says is precluded from challenging the trademarks after it brought similar claims 26 years ago that were rejected.
February 28, 2023
8th Circuit Upholds Minnesota City’s Ban Of Flavored Tobacco Products

ST. LOUIS — Despite finding the language of federal legislation regulating tobacco sales “ambiguous,” an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 27 affirmed a Minnesota city’s ordinance banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products as an exercise of the “traditional state police powers,” rejecting arguments by tobacco companies and retailers that the ban is preempted by federal regulation.
February 27, 2023
High Court Won’t Hear Challenge To Los Angeles County’s Flavored Tobacco Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 27 denied three tobacco companies’ petition for a writ of certiorari challenging a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals split panel’s affirmance of Los Angeles County’s ban on flavored tobacco products, which the tobacco companies and a dissenting circuit judge had said was identical to past cases in which the high court deemed product bans federally preempted.
January 25, 2023
LA Says High Court Need Not Review Challenge To Its Flavored Tobacco Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Los Angeles County and its Board of Supervisors (LA) urge the U.S. Supreme Court to deny three tobacco companies’ petition for a writ of certiorari challenging a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals split panel’s affirmance of LA’s ban on flavored tobacco products, arguing that the county’s ban is distinguishable from past cases where the high court deemed product bans federally preempted (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, et al. v. County of Los Angeles, California, et al., No. 22-338, U.S. Sup.).
February 22, 2023
Judge Approves Final Altria Shareholder Settlement, Reduces Attorney Fees

RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge granted final approval to a $117 million settlement of shareholder claims against tobacco company Altria Group Inc. for harming the company by investing in Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) after a third set of revisions but issued a slightly reduced attorney fees award of $15 million after noting that finalization of the settlement required “a healthy dose of assistance from the Court.”
February 16, 2023
At Trial, Man Who Sued Cigarette Maker Says He Didn’t Know Of Cancer Risk Until 2005

BOSTON — Jurors in a Massachusetts court recently heard opening arguments at trial regarding claims brought by a 78-year-old former smoker with cancer who says a tobacco company concealed the risks of cigarettes and deceived him into developing a nicotine addiction, while a lawyer for the tobacco company said the smoker chose to use cigarettes independently. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
February 13, 2023
Judge Dismisses Nicotine Pouch Makers’ Settled Trade Secrets Row

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge entered an order granting a joint stipulation by Swedish and American companies involved in a trade secrets and patent dispute over the manufacturing and selling of nicotine pouches to voluntarily dismiss two pending lawsuits between them with prejudice, with each party agreeing to bear its own attorney fees and costs.
January 17, 2023
RJR Appeals Royalties, Patent Rulings In $95M E-Cigarette Design Row

GREENSBORO, N.C. — R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJR) filed notice that it is appealing a district court’s judgment against it, denial of its motion for a new trial and grant of Altria Client Services LLC’s motion for ongoing royalties on RJR’s Vuse Alto e-cigarette, after a jury ordered RJR to pay more than $95 million for infringing three of Altria’s patents for pod-based vape technology.
February 10, 2023
Cigar Maker Moves For $20M In Sanctions From Rival For Fraud In Antitrust Suit

LOS ANGELES — A cigar maker that previously won the vacatur of a $44 million verdict in favor of a rival cigarillo maker and its parent company after proving the verdict was based on fraudulent evidence recently moved in a California federal court for sanctions of nearly $20 million representing its attorney fees and costs incurred defending against the rivals’ “bad-faith conduct throughout this litigation.”
February 09, 2023
FDA Appeals Vacatur Of New Tobacco Warnings Rule To 5th Circuit

TYLER, Texas — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is appealing to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Texas district court’s ruling vacating its new graphic warnings rule for tobacco products, which the court found violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by requiring manufacturers to place large photographic images depicting the health risks of smoking on product labels.
February 08, 2023
Judge Issues Written Order Granting Preliminary Approval To $225M Juul Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and its affiliates recently issued a written order granting preliminary approval to the MDL plaintiffs’ proposed $225 million settlement to adult and minor consumers nationwide who allegedly suffered economic loss due to JLI’s deceptive marketing and wrote that he would certify a “settlement class” encompassing other previously certified classes.
February 07, 2023
Jurors Reject Claims Against Tobacco Companies For Smoker’s Death From Lung Cancer

BOSTON — A Massachusetts state court jury has returned a defense verdict in favor of two tobacco companies sued by the widower of a dead smoker after rejecting his claims that the companies deceived the smoker into getting hooked as a teenager in the 1960s, which one tobacco company argued was disproven by the widower’s testimony that cigarette pack warnings had “no effect” on the smoker’s habit. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
February 07, 2023
Smoker’s Sister Seeks Attorney Fees After Defeat At Florida Supreme Court

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A dead smoker’s sister argues in a brief to the Florida Supreme Court that she is entitled to appellate attorney fees under Florida’s proposal for settlement (PFS) statute despite the court’s Jan. 5 affirmance of an appellate panel’s reversal of a jury’s punitive $16 million damages award in her favor because the court left intact a compensatory damages award that she says is far enough above her PFS to trigger the statute.
February 06, 2023
Altria Tells 9th Circuit It Isn’t Liable For Juul MDL Class Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — Tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries in an opening brief to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals say a trial court wrongly certified two classes bringing claims against it for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) as part of the multidistrict litigation against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), writing that the claims arise out of sales of “JUUL products that Altria never designed, manufactured, or sold.”