Tag: Juul Labs

  • Juul Labs Settles Louisiana Vape Suit for $10 Million

    Juul Labs Settles Louisiana Vape Suit for $10 Million

    Credit: Adobe Photo

    Juul Labs has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office filed for deceptive marketing practices. Juul has settled similar cases in Washington state — agreeing to pay $22.5 million — as well as Arizona and North Carolina.

    “This settlement is another step in our ongoing effort to reset our company and we applaud the Attorney General’s plan to deploy resources to combat underage use,” reads a statement form Juul Labs. “We will continue working with federal and state stakeholders to secure a fully regulated, science-based marketplace for vapor products.”

    In the Louisiana case, Attorney General Jeff Landry had accused Juul Labs of marketing its e-cigarettes to youth, according to a news report.

    In a 76-page filing in November, Attorney General Jeff Landry claimed Juul used marketing tactics that included designing sleek, concealable devices that featured “fun flavors like mango and cool mint” and edgy ad campaigns directed towards youth.

    Landry also accused Juul of “deceptive marketing practices” regarding the device’s concentrations of nicotine. Landry’s office had sought to prevent Juul from selling the product to minors and wanted to limit available flavors to tobacco and menthol. Prosecutors also sought financial penalties from Juul.

  • Juul Ends Washington State Marketing Suit for $22.5 Million

    Juul Ends Washington State Marketing Suit for $22.5 Million

    Juul Labs has reached another settlement in its youth marketing lawsuits. The vaping manufacturer has agreed to pay $22.5 million in a settlement with Washington state over claims that it unlawfully targeted underage consumers with deceptive advertisements.

    “Juul put profits before people,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Wednesday in a statement. “The company fueled a staggering rise in vaping among teens.”

    The settlement comes after North Carolina last year struck a $40 million deal with Juul over how it markets products to underage users. The e-cigarette maker agreed to stop all marketing aimed at young people as part of that deal announced in June.

    Juul didn’t clearly state that its products contained nicotine and for more than 20 months, from August 2016 until April 2018, “unlawfully sold hundreds of thousands of vaping products to Washington consumers,” according to Washington’s lawsuit filed in 2020, according to Bloomberg.

    The company committed to reforms including stopping all its advertising that appeals to youth and ending most social media promotion in the settlement, according to the statement. Juul must also check Washington stores 25 times a month with secret shoppers to keep its products away from youth.

    Juul said the settlement terms are consistent with its present practices and past agreements to help combat underage use.

    “This settlement is another step in our ongoing effort to reset our company and resolve issues from the past,” the company said in a statement. “We support the Washington State Attorney General’s plan to deploy resources to address underage use, such as future monitoring and enforcement.”

    Juul Labs continues to face similar suits from several states, including New York and California.

  • E-Cig Market Gap Between Juul, Vuse Continues to Close

    E-Cig Market Gap Between Juul, Vuse Continues to Close

    The market-share gap between the top-selling U.S. electronic cigarettes has shrunk over the past month with Juul holding about a 4.2-percentage point gap over R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s Vuse.

    The latest Nielsen analysis of convenience store data, covering the four-week period ending Feb. 12, determined Juul was at 37.9percent market share and Vuse at 33.7 percent, according to Winston-Salem Journal.

    There has been a 4- to 4.8-percentage point gap between the two e-cigarettes for the last six Nielsen reports.

    NJoy was at 3.2 percent, up from 3.1 percent in the previous report, while Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs rose from 2.3 percent to 2.4 percent.

    E-cigarette sales overall have slumped since February 2020, when the Food and Drug Administration implemented its latest round of heightened regulations on the products.

    Those restrictions foremost required manufacturers of cartridge-based e-cigarettes, such as Juul Labs Inc., Reynolds Vapor, NJoy and Fontem, to stop making, distributing and selling “unauthorized flavorings” in February 2021, or risk enforcement actions.

    Goldman Sachs analyst Bonnie Herzog said another factor in the slump is “the impact of e-cigarette market denial orders by the FDA as it continues to work through premarket tobacco applications.”

  • ITC Bans All Imports of Illicit Juul-Compatible Pods

    ITC Bans All Imports of Illicit Juul-Compatible Pods

    Credit: JHVEPhoto

    The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a general exclusion order that bans the importation of any unauthorized cartridges compatible with the Juul vaping system that infringe Juul Labs’ patented product designs, including compatible flavored pods and refillable pods.

    This ruling follows a filing by Juul Labs submitted to the ITC on July 10, 2020, that sought a general exclusion order directed at all importers of unauthorized cartridges that copy Juul Labs’ patented pod designs without authorization.

    “Today’s ITC ruling represents a major victory against manufacturers of illicit vapor products who seek to bypass regulations and undermine efforts to create a more responsible marketplace for the category,” said Wayne Sobon, vice president, intellectual property at Juul Labs, in a statement.

    “In addition to targeting the importation of all infringing products, regardless of the brand, this sweeping action will provide the additional public benefit of helping rid the market of unauthorized Juul-compatible products that can be modified by the user, such as empty and refillable pods.”

  • FTC Complaint Against Altria’s Investment in Juul Dismissed

    FTC Complaint Against Altria’s Investment in Juul Dismissed

    Photo: Aerial Mike

    A U.S. Administrative Law Judge has dismissed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) claims against Altria and Juul Labs arising out of Altria’s 2018 minority investment in Juul. Following a three-week trial, the judge found that the evidence failed to sustain the alleged violations.

    The judge’s decision is subject to review by the FTC. Any decision by the FTC may be appealed to any U.S. Court of Appeals.

    “We are pleased with this decision and have said all along that our minority investment in JUUL does not harm competition and does not violate the antitrust laws,” said Murray Garnick, executive vice president and general counsel of Altria, in a statement

    In April 2020, the FTC issued an administrative complaint against Altria and Juul alleging that Altria’s 35 percent investment in Juul and the associated agreements constitute an unreasonable restraint of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914, and substantially lessened competition in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Antitrust Act.

    A public version of the decision is expected to be made available late this month.

  • Juul Labs Sues Reeha for Trademark Infringement

    Juul Labs Sues Reeha for Trademark Infringement

    JUUL Labs, Inc filed a suit against defendant Reeha LLC in the District of Connecticut alleging trademark infringement and unfair trading practices on their vaping products for purportedly selling counterfeit JUUL products, according to lawstreetmedia.

    The complaint, filed Dec. 15, states that “wrongdoers have counterfeited JUUL products by illegally manufacturing, selling and distributing fake, copied, and non-genuine versions of JUUL products and related packaging bearing JUUL trademarks.”

    Allegedly the defendant did not have JUUL’s “authorization to produce, manufacture, distribute, market, offer for sale, and/or sell merchandise bearing the JUUL marks.” The plaintiff also claims that the defendant hurt the JUUL brand by selling lower quality products to unsuspecting customers who believed these to be true JUUL products.

    Reeha allegedly used the trademarked words “JUULpods” in some of their products as well as the plaintiff’s company name “JUUL.”  

    The Juul contends that Reeha sold “unlawful Grey Market Goods,” which are only meant to be sold in foreign markets because they do not comply with U.S. regulation. According to the complaint, this became more obvious to the plaintiff when it looked at some of these counterfeit products that contained foreign language warnings on them, which are never found on JUUL products legally sold in the United States. 

    According to the plaintiff, it sent a cease-and-desist letter to the defendant to end the sales of the “unlawful Grey Market Goods,” yet the sales continued after the letter had been sent to the defendant.

    The defendant is facing six counts, including trademark infringement – counterfeit goods, false designation of origin, unfair competition, trademark infringement – grey market goods, statutory unfair trade practices and common law unfair competition.

  • Call for Class Action Status in Juul Overpayment Lawsuits

    Call for Class Action Status in Juul Overpayment Lawsuits

    Lawyers representing U.S. consumers who say they overpaid for Juul Labs’ e-cigarettes on Dec. 6 urged a federal judge to certify their claims as a class action, reports Reuters. Juul argues that the plaintiffs should proceed individually because they bought Juul products under differing circumstances.

    Credit: Steheap

    More than 2,800 cases have been consolidated in the multidistrict litigation against Juul, its largest shareholder Altria Group and several individual officers and directors. They include both personal injury claims and claims of economic loss by people who say they would have paid less, or not bought the e-cigarettes at all, if Juul had not downplayed their addictiveness and appealed to teenagers through social media campaigns and other means.

    The plaintiffs are seeking partial refunds for adult purchasers and full refunds for underage purchasers.

    Gregory Stone of Munger, Tolles & Olson, representing Juul, said the plaintiffs’ case rested on whether Juul’s marketing was misleading, whether it targeted teenagers, whether buyers were actually misled and whether the marketing affected their buying decisions.

    In a tentative opinion, U.S. District Judge William Orrick said that he was inclined to grant class certification.

  • Juul Settles Youth Marketing Lawsuit With Arizona

    Juul Settles Youth Marketing Lawsuit With Arizona

    Photo: steheap

    Juul Labs has agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle a lawsuit by Arizona accusing it of fueling a vaping epidemic by marketing its products to minors.

    The settlement, announced Nov. 23 by the office of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, provides for $12.5 million to be set aside for anti-addiction programs. The remaining $2 million will go to a general consumer protection fund and litigation expenses.

    As part of the consent judgment, pending court approval, Juul has committed to company-wide changes to its business practices to ensure that its products will not be marketed or sold to Arizona’s youth.

    “Today’s settlement holds Juul accountable for its irresponsible marketing efforts that pushed Arizona minors toward nicotine and the addiction that follows,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich in a statement. “Combatting the youth vaping epidemic remains a priority for our office with both our undercover Counter Strike program and zero tolerance for vaping companies that mislead or deceive.”

    Juul said the settlement is another step in its ongoing effort to “reset” its company and applauded the Attorney General’s plan to deploy resources to address underage use. “We will continue working with federal and state stakeholders to advance a fully regulated, science-based marketplace for vapor products,” the company wrote in a statement. “As part of that process, we will continue to support Tobacco 21 and enforcement against illicit and illegally marketed products, such as certain disposables, that jeopardize the harm reduction potential of alternative vapor products.”

    The company said it remains in discussions with other key stakeholders about litigation related to its past as part of its commitment to earn trust.

    In June, Juul settled a similar case brought by North Carolina.

    The company still faces more than 2,000 lawsuits, including from state and local governments, accusing the company of creating a spike in nicotine addiction among teens by using fruit-flavored liquid pods, social media campaigns and free giveaways.

    Altria Group, which in 2018 acquired a 35 percent stake in Juul, is also named as a defendant in many of the lawsuits.

  • North Carolina Juul Settlement to Fund Tobacco Control

    North Carolina Juul Settlement to Fund Tobacco Control

    Photo: Chicken Strip

    For the first time since 2012, North Carolina’s state budget plan includes funds to help prevent young people from getting addicted to nicotine, reports NC Health News.

    Much of that money comes from a $40 million settlement that State Attorney Josh Stein reached this summer with Juul Labs following a lawsuit over the e-cigarette maker’s alleged targeting of young people.

    In 1998, North Carolina and 45 other states settled litigation with to recover healthcare cost incurred for treating sick smokers. The four largest U.S. tobacco companies agreed to pay $206 billion over 25 years, and part of that money was to be spent by the states on smoking-cessation programs.

    In reality, however, many states have directed their Master Settlement Agreement funds to other priorities. In 2013, when Republicans held control of both the North Carolina General Assembly chambers and the governor’s office, money stopped flowing to programs targeted at young smokers and nicotine users.

    The budget that Governor Roy Cooper signed into law on Nov. 18 transfers $2 million from the first $13 million allotment from the Juul settlement to the attorney general’s office to cover litigation costs.

    Another $4.4 million will go to tobacco cessation media campaigns, resources and programs to help children in middle school, high school and young adults quit vaping and using tobacco products after becoming addicted.

    The budget allocates $3.3 million for “evidence-based media and education campaigns” geared toward prevention of e-cigarette and tobacco use and $1.1 million for data monitoring to better understand how young people are exposed to such products and evaluate programs designed to help users quit.

    Nationally, more than two million children in middle school and high school used e-cigarettes in 2021, according to North Carolina health director Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson. Almost half of those high school students used e-cigarettes frequently, for as many as 20 out of 30 days. In North Carolina, Tilson added, a third of people in that age group used tobacco products, most of which are e-cigarettes.

  • North Carolina Launches Investigation Into Puff Bar

    North Carolina Launches Investigation Into Puff Bar

    Photo: Andrey Popov

    North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein on Nov. 16 announced “major actions” against the e-cigarette industry due to ongoing concerns about kid-friendly flavors, youth marketing and poor age verification.

    In addition to suing Juul Labs founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen, Stein commenced a statewide investigation into Puff Bar and other e-cigarette manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.

    “We made major progress in protecting young people from e-cigarette addiction when we secured a court order dramatically changing the way Juul does business and recovering $40 million to help kids conquer their nicotine addiction. But many of the billions Juul made from addicting kids to nicotine are now in the personal accounts of its founders and early investors. The people behind this company must be held accountable and pay to clean up the mess they made,” Stein said in a statement.

    “At the same time, the market Juul created still exists, and other companies are filling the vacuum. We are actively investigating Puff Bar and other companies at all stages of the distribution chain, from manufacturers to retailers and everything in between to ensure they are not profiting off kids. Where I find illegal behavior, I will not hesitate to take legal action.”

    As Juul discontinued some its flavored products in the U.S., Puff Bar has emerged as the vape of choice among young people. In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration told Puff Bar to stop selling its flavored vaporizers as part of a broader crackdown on underage vaping. However, the company resumed sales in early 2021 with products using synthetic nicotine, which the company believes are outside the FDA remit. In response, the agency launched an investigation of the redesigned Puff Bar.

    Puff Bar sales in retail stores tracked by Nielsen totaled $156 million for the year ended Sept. 25, according to Goldman Sachs, although it is unclear how many of those sales are counterfeit products. In a federal survey released in Sept., 26 percent of high-school vaporizers said they used Puff Bars. Among middle-school e-cigarette users, 30 percent reported that their generic brand was Puff Bars.