Tag: Altria Group

  • Altria and Juul Support New Age-Verification System

    Altria and Juul Support New Age-Verification System

    Altria Group Distribution Co. and Juul Labs have announced their support of TruAge, a new digital solution that enhances current age-verification systems and protects user privacy.

    Developed by the National Association of Convenience Stores and Conexxus, TruAge makes it easier and more accurate to verify a customer’s age when purchasing age-restricted products. At the same time, the system makes identity theft difficult. One-time-use tokens are used to share only the most important elements to confirm the purchaser is of legal age, which also protects the user’s privacy.

    TruAge is free to retailers, consumers and POS providers, and its relevant intellectual property will be placed in the public domain—removing barriers to adoption.

    “We are excited to join this important initiative because TruAge deepens our trade partners’ support of underage prevention and helps establish retail as the most trusted place to responsibly sell tobacco products,” said Scott Myers, president and CEO of Altria Group Distribution Co., in a statement.

    “Over the past few years, we have worked closely with our retailer partners across the United States to implement enhanced access controls for the sale of Juul products, automatically requiring electronic ID scanning to verify the purchaser is at least 21 years of age and limiting the amount of product sold to reduce social sourcing,” said Parker Kasmer, vice president of regulatory engagement for Juul Labs.

    “We are eager to support TruAge and the extension of technologically based age-verification solutions across all vapor and other age-restricted products to combat underage use and support a more responsible marketplace.”

    TruAge is also supported by more than 130 retail companies that represent 22,000-plus convenience store locations in the United States, plus four industry point-of-sale providers.

  • ITC: IQOS Infringes on BAT Patents, U.S. Sales to End

    ITC: IQOS Infringes on BAT Patents, U.S. Sales to End

    Photo: theaphotography

    The International Trade Commission (ITC) has upheld an initial determination from May 2021 that Philip Morris International’s IQOS device infringes on two patents owned by BAT subsidiary Reynolds American Inc. (RAI).

    The agency has instituted an import ban and a cease-and-desist order preventing IQOS consumables and devices from being sold in the U.S. in 60 days. PMI’s U.S. partner, Altria Group, plans to continue to sell IQOS through the 60-day period in its existing markets.

    BAT welcomed the ruling. “Infringement of our intellectual property undermines our ability to invest and innovate and thereby reduce the health impact of our business,” the company wrote in a statement. “We will therefore defend our IP robustly across the globe.”

    The patents relate to an electronically powered device with a heater to generate an aerosol and expire in October 2026 and November 2031. BAT has filed similar cases globally, including in Germany, the U.K., Japan and Italy.

    Morgan Stanley said the ruling would have limited financial impact on PMI and Altria, as IQOS in the U.S. is not a meaningful contributor to the companies’ earnings. The outcome of similar cases brought by BAT against PMI internationally, however, could have a greater impact. But so far, PMI has been successful defending cases in the U.K. and Greece.

    The investment bank also noted that the IQOS ban applies to imported product, suggesting it may be overcome by shifting production to the U.S.

    The ITC decision will now be reviewed by the U.S. Trade Representative. If the decision is not vetoed within 60 days (only a handful have ever been vetoed), it can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, but the import ban would still be in effect throughout an appeals process.

  • Altria, Juul Labs Antitrust Suit Continues This Week

    Altria, Juul Labs Antitrust Suit Continues This Week

    The Altria Group antitrust trial continues this week over allegations made by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that company participated in anticompetitive practices ahead of its 2018 investment in e-cigarette startup Juul Labs.

    Credit: Steheap

    In opening remarks on Wednesday, the FTC argued that Altria pulled its vaping products off the U.S. market illegally at the insistence of Juul as the two companies were discussing a deal. Altria argued that its e-cigarettes were failures, and it jettisoned them amid regulatory pressure and an internal reckoning about the company’s inability to develop a vaping product that consumers liked, according to the Wall Street Journal.

    If the FTC prevails, it could unwind Altria’s 35 percent interest in Juul Labs, which Altria bought in December 2018 for $12.8 billion. The agency is seeking to force Altria to divest its stake and terminate the companies’ noncompete agreement. The case is being heard by an administrative law judge, who will make an initial decision; the agency’s commissioners will then vote on the matter.

    The FTC in April of last year sued to unwind the deal. The trial is taking place via teleconference at the agency’s office of administrative law judges. A key question at trial is why Altria, when it was in talks with Juul, stopped selling its own e-cigarettes. Altria’s explanations for exiting the e-cigarette market were pretexts, FTC attorney Stephen Rodger said in his opening remarks Wednesday. “But for the transaction, Altria would still be competing with [Juul] today.”

  • Trade Commission: IQOS Infringes on Vuse Patents

    Trade Commission: IQOS Infringes on Vuse Patents

    Photo: JHVEPhoto

    Philip Morris International’s IQOS device infringes two patents owned by British American Tobacco subsidiary Reynolds American Inc., reports Bloomberg, citing a note posted by Judge Clark Cheney on the U.S. International Trade Commission’s website.

    The next step is a likely review by the full commission, which has the power to halt products at the U.S. border and is scheduled to complete the investigation by Sept. 15.

    IQOS is the only heat-not-burn product authorized for sale in the U.S., where it’s sold by Altria. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed the company to market IQOS as reducing consumers’ exposure to harmful chemicals found in cigarettes.

    Reynolds claims PMI and Altria copied patented technology that it had developed for its Vuse Vibe and Vuse Solo vaping products, for which it’s filed for FDA approval. The company complained to the ITC in April 2020.

    Altria responded with its own patent-infringement claims, and a separate suit against Reynolds in May. Altria also lodged petitions with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of a half-dozen Reynolds’ patents.

    The judge has to make a determination on whether even temporarily removing such products is appropriate for public health and what alternatives there are for consumers.

    Andre Calantzopoulos, executive chairman, PMI

    Reynolds said it expects the judge will recommend an import ban, adding that the unauthorized use of its inventions “undermines our ability to invest and innovate and thereby reduce the health impact of our business.”

    Philip Morris called the judge’s findings “one step in a long process that does not have an immediate effect” and it will present its position to the commission.

    “BAT’s litigation in the U.S. is part of a worldwide attempt—which has been entirely unsuccessful to date—that is meant to undermine the heated-tobacco segment, where they lag far behind,” the company said.

    PMI has also argued that, even if a patent violation is found, it’s not in the public’s interest to keep the IQOS out of the U.S.

    “The judge has to make a determination on whether even temporarily removing such products is appropriate for public health and what alternatives there are for consumers,” said PMI Executive Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos. “If we remove a product that exists, and the only alternative that people have are cigarettes, it’s a consideration of public-health interest and that has to be taken into account.”

  • Altria, Juul Likely to Face Suit Over $13 Billion Deal

    Altria, Juul Likely to Face Suit Over $13 Billion Deal

    Photo: jessica45 | Pixabay

    Altria Group and Juul Labs will likely face a proposed antitrust action seeking to unwind a $12.8 billion deal that gave the tobacco giant a 35 percent stake in the vapor company, reports Bloomberg Law, citing a “tentative” ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco.

    Judge William H. Orrick indicated Wednesday that he’s inclined to let most of the lawsuit move forward in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where it was consolidated after dozens of antitrust plaintiffs sued over deal clauses calling for Altria’s exit from the vaping market.

    The Federal Trade Commission has also sued over the Altria-Juul transaction.