Mealey's Tobacco
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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August 11, 2023
Judge Vacates FDA Rule Regulating Manufacture Of Premium Cigars
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge vacated the Food and Drug Administration’s rule regulating premium cigars, granting the remedy sought by cigar industry associations and opposed by the FDA since the judge held one year ago that the FDA’s premium cigar rule was “arbitrary and capricious” and issued without consideration of “pertinent evidence.”
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August 10, 2023
Judge Dismisses Juul Exec’s Wrongful Firing Suit After Arbitrator Rejects Claims
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Aug. 9 dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit brought by a former executive who accused e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) of wrongful termination and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) after he complained that up to 1 million of its mint-flavored nicotine pods may be contaminated, citing the rejection of his claims by an arbitrator.
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August 07, 2023
United States Denies Altria’s Claim For $106M In Allegedly Overpaid Taxes
RICHMOND, Va. — The United States filed its answer and affirmative defenses in Virginia federal court where tobacco company Altria Group Inc. is suing it for roughly $106 million in overpaid income taxes that Altria says the U.S. Internal Revenue Service “erroneously collected” based on taxation of Altria’s foreign holdings, asserting that the court lacks jurisdiction over the claims and that its review of Altria’s taxes is ongoing.
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August 07, 2023
Anti-SLAPP Law Doesn’t Apply To New Tobacco Products Suit, Plaintiffs Claim
FRESNO, Calif. — R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) and retailers filed a brief in California state court opposing the state attorney general and Fresno County district attorney’s motion to strike their lawsuit challenging the state’s identification of new RJR products with crushable filter capsules as “presumptively flavored,” saying their claims don’t relate to protected speech.
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August 07, 2023
Flavored Vape Company Says FDA Wrongly Refused To Accept Premarket Application
ATLANTA — A flavored e-cigarette company filed suit in Georgia federal court against the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and their respective leaders, contending that the FDA improperly refused to accept its premarket tobacco application (PMTA) for allegedly failing to include specifications about the product that the company asserts was in fact contained in the PMTA.
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August 04, 2023
E-Cig Businesses Among Amici Weighing In On Chevron Deference Before High Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares in a pending case filed against government officials and agencies by vessel owners to weigh the doctrine of Chevron deference, dozens of legal, industrial, political and advocacy groups have filed amicus briefs, including e-cigarette companies that say the doctrine allowed the Food and Drug Administration to apply an “extreme” interpretation of its powers in banning thousands of e-cigarette products.
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August 04, 2023
Vape Company Tells High Court FDA Cut Corners To Ban Flavored Vapes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of affiliated flavored vape companies in an Aug. 3 reply brief urge the U.S. Supreme Court to grant their petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling upholding the Food and Drug Administration’s ban of their products, writing that the decision “was wrong” and that the FDA showed “hubris” when it ignored the requirements of administrative review.
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August 04, 2023
NYC Sues Vape Companies Alleging Illegal Sales Of Flavored, Disposable Vapes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New York City on Aug. 3 filed an amended complaint accusing sellers of e-cigarette devices of illegally netting millions in profit while selling flavored vape devices in the city, seeking millions in damages and penalties from sellers the city says are liable for violating a statewide ban on flavored vapes, public nuisance, mail and wire fraud and racketeering.
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August 02, 2023
Flavored Pod Maker Says 2nd Circuit Wrongly Affirmed FDA Ban
NEW YORK — A flavored e-cigarette pod manufacturer on Aug. 2 filed a petition for panel or en banc rehearing to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a panel erred in affirming the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) that banned sales of the manufacturer’s products, writing that the panel’s ruling “overlooks and misapprehends material points of fact and law” and conflicts with Second Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
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July 28, 2023
Florida Supreme Court Won’t Review Dismissal Of Smoker’s Kids’ Claims
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court declined to accept jurisdiction over a petition filed by the children of a dead smoker seeking review of a split appellate panel’s ruling affirming the dismissal of their claims for noneconomic damages as a nonfinal, nonappealable ruling.
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July 27, 2023
Chevron Deference Led To ‘Extreme’ E-Cig Regulation, Businesses Tell High Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — E-cigarette companies and industry groups filed an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court in a pending case to “clarify” the doctrine of Chevron deference, writing that as currently applied by courts the doctrine allowed the Food and Drug Administration to ban thousands of e-cigarette products based on an “extreme” application of the Tobacco Control Act (TCA).
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July 26, 2023
Texas Panel Finds Jurisdiction Over Korean Battery Maker In Exploding Vape Case
HOUSTON — A Texas appellate panel on July 25 affirmed a trial court’s jurisdiction over a South Korean battery maker and its U.S. subsidiary in a personal injury lawsuit brought by a man who claims that he was burned after the battery exploded in his e-cigarette device, citing recent Texas Supreme Court precedent.
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July 19, 2023
‘HeatSticks’ Bound By Same RICO Suit Remedies As Cigarettes, Judge Rules
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted a motion filed by the United States and public health groups to clarify that a 2006 remedial order imposing a corrective statements requirement on cigarette manufacturers also applies to a new Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM) product known as “HeatSticks,” while also granting PM’s motion to modify the remedial order so that it may market the product with Food and Drug Administration-approved “reduced-exposure” statements.
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July 18, 2023
FDA Says Its Ban Of Flavored Vape Products Not Worthy Of High Court Review
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration filed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by flavored vape companies seeking review of a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling upholding the FDA’s ban of their products, which the FDA says was not arbitrary or capricious and does not warrant high court review.
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July 14, 2023
Judge Remands Nonprofit Group’s False Advertising Suit Against Juul To State Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal court on July 13 granted a lung health nonprofit’s motion to remand its lawsuit accusing Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) of deceptively marketing the nicotine content in its e-cigarette products to state court, citing a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
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July 10, 2023
9th Circuit Says FDA Rightly Banned Vape Companies’ E-Liquids
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 7 affirmed the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial orders (MDOs) issued to two e-liquid companies, finding that the FDA properly informed the companies of its standards before banning sales of their nicotine-containing products for use with vape products.
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July 10, 2023
Georgia Panel Reinstates $10.1M Default Judgment In Exploding Vape Case
ATLANTA — A Georgia appellate court vacated a ruling setting aside a $10.1 million default judgment against an electronics company that had failed to respond to a lawsuit accusing it of manufacturing and selling a battery that burned an e-cigarette user when his vape exploded in his pocket, finding that the trial court judge improperly shifted the burden of proof to the plaintiff in evaluating the company’s motion to set aside.
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July 10, 2023
Jury Awards Dead Smoker’s Daughter $132,000 For Lung Cancer Death After Engle Trial
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida jury awarded a dead smoker’s daughter $132,000 in compensatory damages against a tobacco company for causing the smoker’s addiction to cigarettes, which led to her death from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
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July 07, 2023
Right Of Way Smoking Ban Row With Oil Company Sent Back To Tribal Court
ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a federal judge erred by enjoining Indian landowners, a tribal judge and tribal court from prosecuting claims against an energy company for violating a ban on smoking on a right of way granted to the company that ran through the landowners’ property, ruling that the energy company must first exhaust its remedies before the tribe’s appellate court.