Category: Litigation

  • Court Awards Smoore $5.4 Million in Counterfeit Lawsuits

    Court Awards Smoore $5.4 Million in Counterfeit Lawsuits

    A New York federal judge recently granted Vaporesso parent, Shenzhen Smoore Technology a $5.4 million default judgment and permanent injunction against over 100 defendants accused of selling counterfeit Vaporesso and other Smoore brand products. 

    The default judgment is for $50,000 dollars per defendant. Smoore filed the complaint in October alleging trademark counterfeiting and infringement against the defendants located mainly in China but conducting business in the U.S.

    In the same lawsuits, Smoore settled with a significant number of defendant sellers who paid compensation for infringement and cooperated to identify their sources for the counterfeit products.  The litigation demonstrates Smoore’s determination to protect its intellectual property rights in the jurisdiction of the United States.

    Smoore has undertaken the lawsuits as part of an overall anti-counterfeiting program in the United States that includes cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to seize counterfeit products. The damages may not be completely enforced, but Smoore is planning to enforce the default judgment in order to collect compensation.

  • Illinois files lawsuit against California E-Liquid Company

    Illinois files lawsuit against California E-Liquid Company

    Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed a lawsuit against e-cigarette maker Juice Man, alleging deceptive marketing practices aimed at enticing youth.

    The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Cook County against the California-based company, according to a story by the Associated Press (AP).

    The move follows a similar Illinois lawsuit in December against Juul, the nation’s biggest e-cigarette maker.

    The Juice Man lawsuit claims the company used child-friendly flavors like cotton candy and used social media platforms with cartoons and giveaway competitions to entice young people.

    E-cigarettes create an aerosol, commonly called vapor, made of particulate matter. The vapor typically contains propylene glycol, glycerin, nicotine, flavors, and traces of toxicants, carcinogens, heavy metals, and metal nanoparticles. Its exact composition varies, and depends on several factors including user behavior, according to wikipedia.

  • State of Washington Files Suit Against Juul for Teen Marketing

    State of Washington Files Suit Against Juul for Teen Marketing

    Credit: Insurance Journal

    Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a suit against vapor manufacturer Juul Labs last week, alleging the company designed its products to appeal to underage consumers, and was deceptive in the addictiveness of its product.

    Ferguson alleges that by “pushing unfair and deceptive marketing strategies appealing to youth,” Juul’s e-cigarettes fueled a “staggering rise in vaping among teens,” according to a story on komonews.com.

    “Upon the launch of the device, the company flooded social media with colorful ads of young-looking models and pushed fruit and dessert flavored products,” Ferguson wrote in the filing. “At the same time, Juul vehemently denied it marketed to underage users — echoing unlawful strategies used by major cigarette corporations in decades past.”

    Ferguson also claimed Juul mislead consumers by avoiding mentioning that their cigarette pods contained nicotine in their initial marketing, only complying in 2018 when the federal government required disclosure. His office quotes a survey from 2018 indicating 63 percent of Juul users from between 15-24 years old didn’t know their products contained nicotine.

    In addition, the state alleges Juul failed to meet the state’s vapor product licensing requirements meaning every sale of a Juul device from August 2016 through 2018 is considered illegal.

    Ferguson didn’t say what specific damages he was seeking.

  • Flavored Vapor Ban Upheld in Edina, MInnesota

    Flavored Vapor Ban Upheld in Edina, MInnesota

    A flavored tobacco ban enacted by the Edina City Council in mid-June will remain in place after a federal judge dismissed a complaint brought against the city and city manager Scott Neal by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company, American Snuff Company, and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, along with Vernon BP and Lang’s One Stop Market, both of which are retailers.

    On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case. The ruling came the day before the ban was to go in effect on Sept. 1, according to a story on Halfwheel.com.

    The suit claimed that the city was prevented from enacting such a ban by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the 2009 federal law which empowers the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, and prohibits state and local governments from enacting any standards or laws that either differ from or add on to federal law, such as the case of a city or county enacting a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products.

    The plaintiffs claimed that the county’s ban stands as an obstacle to the purposes of federal law, which are to promulgate tobacco product standards that can be used at the national level. They said that Congress and FDA have already established that “certain tobacco products, particularly menthol cigarettes, should remain available to adult users of tobacco products.”

    Both complaints seek relief in the form of the ordinances being declared invalid and unenforceable, as well as requesting that the court both preliminarily and permanently issue an injunction that prevents the bans from being implemented and enforced.

    In his ruling, Judge Schiltz maintained that the city was within its right to enact such a ban, being neither expressly or impliedly preempted by federal law. The judge cited several provisions in the federal that allow local municipalities to enact certain laws regarding the sale of tobacco, known as the preservation clause, the preemption clause and the saving clause.

  • Juul Labs Files Another Round of Lawsuits for Fake Pods

    Juul Labs Files Another Round of Lawsuits for Fake Pods

    Credit: Eonsmoke

    Juul Labs filed six trademark-infringement lawsuits in five states against shop owners it says are using the Juul name to sell products that are “fake, copied, and non-genuine versions of Juul Products and related packaging.”

    The company said as many as 20 suits will be filed in the next 60 days in an effort to stop the “worst offenders” among retailers selling counterfeit e-cigarettes, part of an effort to shore up its bid with regulators to stay in the U.S. market, according to an article on Bloomberg.com.

    The new legal round follow some four dozen lawsuits filed in July against companies Juul says are copying its patented designs for vaping cartridges. The U.S. International Trade Commission is considering a Juul request to block imports and sales of imported, unauthorized cartridges.

    The trademark suits accuse companies of selling counterfeits and “gray market” products, meaning they were made for overseas markets but brought into the U.S. The lawsuits were filed in Alabama, New Hampshire, New York, Tennessee, and Texas, according to the article.

    The suits are part of Juul’s “global enforcement program directed at disrupting the illicit trade of black-market vapor products to create a more responsible marketplace for current adult users while addressing under-age use,” the company said in a statement.

    Juul is seeking orders that would halt sales, the profits from the unauthorized sales, and $2 million for each trademark violation.

  • Eonsmoke Loses $22.5 Million in First Fraud Lawsuit

    Eonsmoke Loses $22.5 Million in First Fraud Lawsuit

    eonsmoke product
    Credit: Eonsmoke

    The Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) obtained a $22.5 million judgment and a permanent injunction against New Jersey-based vapor company Eonsmoke, LLC. The ruling could set precedent for other states suing vapor companies over marketing practices.

    “Eonsmoke is being held accountable for its unlawful conduct in Arizona, including marketing flavored vaping pods to children,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “If you are an Arizona retailer and have Eonsmoke products on your shelves, they are illegal. This final judgment includes comprehensive injunctive relief, and our office will continue to monitor Eonsmoke’s presence in Arizona and ensure its compliance with all state and federal laws.”

    Eonsmoke is known for selling its Juul compatible fruit-flavored pods. 

    Arizona may have to visit the courts again in order to collect any funds from the judgment. Eonsmoke’s website launches with a statement saying it has ceased operations “due to rapidly declining circumstances, coronavirus, regulatory, and competitor litigations.”

    The Consumer Protection Section of the AGO filed a consumer fraud lawsuit in January 2020 to stop Eonsmoke from selling illegal vaping products and targeting youth in Arizona. In October 2019, the FDA informed Eonsmoke that it was manufacturing and selling 96 illegal products that did not receive proper FDA approval.

    “Eonsmoke is being held accountable for its unlawful conduct in Arizona, including marketing flavored vaping pods to children,” Brnovich said in a statement. 

    In February 2020, the Superior Court granted the State’s preliminary injunction request, ordering Eonsmoke to immediately cease the sales of illegal vaping products. In the wake of this ruling, the AGO’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit sent over 4,880 letters to retailers informing them that they were facilitating the sale of illegal vaping products, an article on sedona.biz states.

    On July 27, 2020, the Court issued a final judgment against Eonsmoke. The judgment:

    • Permanently enjoins Eonsmoke from: (i) advertising, marketing, or selling any illegal products in Arizona; (ii) marketing, appealing to, or targeting underage consumers in Arizona; and (iii) providing any products to underage consumers in Arizona or distributing products to retailers with three or more violations of the underage sales statutes.
    • Awards the State a total judgment of $22,535,136:
      • $21,974,000 in civil penalties
      • $511,136 in disgorgement of revenues, and
      • $50,000 in attorneys’ fees

    Also in January of 2020, the Arizona AGO, alongside numerous other states and local municipalities, filed a similar consumer fraud lawsuit against Juul Labs. 

  • Juul Labs Sues Over Illegal Pod and Device Sales

    Juul Labs Sues Over Illegal Pod and Device Sales

    Photo: Juul Labs

    Juul Labs and its Canadian affiliate, Juul Labs Canada, have filed litigation against a global network of entities and individuals that illegally sourced and resold authentic Juul pods and devices worldwide.

    Among the main targets of its legal action are the purveyors of the PodVapes and PodMaster websites, entities based in Canada that acquired Juul products from the U.K., Canada and the U.S. to ship all over the world.

    PodVapes, for example, acquired authentic Juul pods from Canada and the U.K. in nontobacco and nonmenthol flavors and shipped them into various states in the U.S. to be illegally resold, according to Juul Labs.

    “Through investigations, we have confirmed that PodVapes actively sells diverted Juul pod packs into the U.S.,” Juul Labs wrote in a statement. “PodVapes also shipped Juul devices that were explicitly developed for non-U.S. markets into the U.S. in violation of FDA laws and regulations.”

    Juul Labs says evidence of this illicit activity first started to emerge in February 2019. While sales of diverted products were first noticed in the markets of New Zealand and Australia by websites facing those countries, the sales quickly spread to websites facing the U.K. and U.S. and, most recently, Canada.

    “As Juul Labs continues to reset the category, it is imperative that the company acts as a responsible partner to regulators and other stakeholders around the world, wherever our products are sold,” Juul Labs stated. “We are committed to aggressively going after bad actors in the vapor category and helping to ensure a responsible marketplace for adult smokers seeking legal alternatives to combustible cigarettes.”

  • Puff Bar Sued for Online Sale of Vapes, Youth Use

    Puff Bar Sued for Online Sale of Vapes, Youth Use

    Credit: Puff Bar

    Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is suing Puff Bar, alongside Cool Clouds Distribution, for allegedly selling its flavored vapor products online. The company is also being accused of failing to protect against delivery of their products to minors, in violation of state law, according to the suit.

    The complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Wednesday also seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent Puff Bar and its distributor from selling its products in Massachusetts while the lawsuit is ongoing. Puff Bar has already suspended all US sales of its products.

    Last November, Massachusetts became the first state in the country to ban the sale of flavored vapor and tobacco products. The law also banned the sale of all menthol flavored tobacco products.

    Much remains unknown about Puff Bar. For example, it is unclear who owns the company, according to FairWarning. A document filed with the California Secretary of State lists Patrick Beltran as the chief financial officer and Nick Minas as the CEO, but both men have stated that despite their titles, they are in charge only of running the company’s website.

    “These products are dangerous, addictive and particularly appealing to young people, which is why Massachusetts moved quickly to regulate them. Companies that blatantly violate these laws will face legal action from my office,” Healey said in a statement.

  • Soter Technologies Brings Suit for Vape Detector

    Soter Technologies Brings Suit for Vape Detector

    Several companies were sued for their alleged infringement of a vape sensor patent. Soter Technologies, LLC claims its patent protects an invention, often used by schools, that detects vapor from e-cigarettes. IP Video Corporation, A+ Technology and Solutions, Inc., and Halo Smart Solutions Inc. are some of the named defendants, according to a story lawstreetmedia.com.

    The case is being held in the Eastern District of New York.

    The patent-in-suit is U.S. Patent No. 10,699,549 (the ‘549 patent), which protects the FlySense vapor detecting sensor device. According to the complaint, the FlySense is the first of its kind and protects “children by helping authorities control the vaping and bullying crisis facing today’s youth,” according to the story. The invention includes “a sensor system for detecting vaping and bullying including an air quality sensor configured to detect air quality, a sound detector configured to detect sounds and a network interface configured to transmit a signal indicating abnormality matching signature of vaping.”

    Soter claimed that its patent was infringed upon by the HALO device designed by Halo Smart Solutions. According to a claims chart included in the complaint, the product similarly senses changes in air quality, includes a “controller configured to identify vaping based on the detected air quality,” and transmits “a signal indicating abnormality matching signature of vaping.” Soter also alleges that IP Video Corporation and A+ Technology and Solutions advertised the infringing HALO device on their websites.

  • Juul Files Action Against Infringing and Illicit Products

    Juul Files Action Against Infringing and Illicit Products

    Photo: Juul

    Juul Labs has filed its third action with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), directed at all importers of unauthorized “Juul-compatible pods” that copy Juul Labs’ patented product designs without authorization.

    The action seeks a general exclusion order barring the importation of any infringing, unauthorized pod-based product designed to be used with the Juul System, including compatible flavored pods and refillable pods, effectively eliminating a sector of illicit products that seek to circumvent federal policy, can present additional health and safety risks to adult consumers, and undercut underage-prevention measures.

    Additionally, Juul Labs is asking the ITC to issue orders stopping the distribution, marketing, and sale of all such products already in the country.

    This patent enforcement action builds off previous actions Juul Labs pursued at the ITC, targeting a broad range of importers of unauthorized Juul-compatible products, including Eonsmoke and Ziip Labs. According to Juul, past actions have successfully resulted in stopping the ongoing importation of more than 40 brands of illicit and unauthorized Juul-compatible pods and products.

    With this new action, Juul Labs says it seeks an even larger impact with a remedy that will not only bar the pod products named in the complaint but will also bar all other infringing pod products that copy Juul Labs’ patented designs.