Legal Battle: Altria's NJOY Sues JUUL for Patent Infringement

Aug.23.2023
Legal Battle: Altria's NJOY Sues JUUL for Patent Infringement
Altria's subsidiary NJOY has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against JUUL LAB, seeking to ban the import and sale of certain e-cigarette products.

On August 22, Altria announced on its official website that its subsidiary NJOY has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against JUUL LAB. The lawsuit seeks to prohibit the import and sale of certain e-cigarette products of JUUL, including its currently sold JUUL devices and pods.


NJOY files a lawsuit against JUUL.


Murray Garnick, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Altria Group, stated:


Protecting our intellectual property is crucial to realizing our vision. JUUL has violated our patent rights through the sale of imported products, and we are requesting the ITC to take appropriate remedial measures against these trade violations.


NJOY has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against JUUL in the federal court in Delaware. The lawsuit accuses JUUL of infringing on the same patents that were previously raised in similar allegations.


The ACE e-cigarette by NJOY is the only pod system product authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the market. The FDA considers the ACE device and its three tobacco-flavored pods to be "suitable for protecting public health".


According to reports, NJOY's lawsuit against ITC accuses JUUL of infringement on US Patent No. 11,497,864 and US Patent No. 10,334,881 (collectively referred to as the "patents in question"), which NJOY acquired from Fuma International, LLC, while settling a patent infringement lawsuit brought against NJOY by Fuma.


The two parties have filed lawsuits against each other.


On June 30th, JUUL announced on its official website that it has filed complaints against NJOY with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Arizona state court. The complaint alleges that NJOY's product, NJOY Ace, infringes on several of JUUL's patents. JUUL is seeking an injunction from the ITC to prevent NJOY's infringing products from being imported and sold in the United States.


The press release from JUUL does not mention the specific patent names involved in this event. According to information from LAW360, JUUL and its subsidiary VMR Products have accused NJOY of infringing on five patents related to the 'JUULpod' pod.


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