Tag: Juul Labs

Counterfeit Juul Factory Shut Down by Chinese Authorities

Chinese authorities have shut down an illicit enterprise involved in the manufacture and international distribution of counterfeit Juul products in China, Juul Labs announced in a press release. The operation resulted in the seizure of more than 110,000 counterfeit products, closure of the production facility and arrest of criminal actors behind the illicit enterprise.
Through its global enforcement operations, Juul Labs was able to identify individuals who were offering suspected counterfeit Juul products at wholesale from China. After in-depth surveillance and monitoring, the company was able to locate a clandestine factory manufacturing counterfeit Juul products for international distribution. Juul Labs then shared this information with Chinese law enforcement and supported its efforts to investigate and raid the illicit factory.
In addition to seizures of counterfeit Juul products, packaging and labeling, officials were able to retain a significant amount of documentation on businesses and individuals with purchase history, which will be used in follow-up investigations and enforcement actions. As a result of the raid, both the factory owner and manager have been arrested and will be subject to criminal prosecution.
The raided factory had thousands of counterfeit packaging for Juul products at 5.0 percent nicotine by weight in various flavors, with production runs ongoing for counterfeit Juul pods in menthol flavor. Juul Labs suspects the that the products were intended for the U.S. market. In addition, the factory appeared to have been manufacturing disposable vapor products under various brand names.
February 11, 2021
South Carolina School District Not Joining Juul Lawsuit
South Carolina’s fifth-largest school district, Richland 2 school district will not be joining a class-action lawsuit against Juul Labs the board voted Tuesday. In October, Lexington 1, a neighboring school district, became the first school district in S.C. to join the Juul Labs class-action. It was later joined by Greenville School District in December.
The lawsuit alleges Juul Labs engaged in deceptive marketing practices and marketed its product to minors. Juul Labs has said it has curbed advertising, is less harmful than alternatives and that its customer base is adults.
Board member Amelia McKie made a motion to join the lawsuit, which saw support from district Superintendent Baron Davis, according to an article in The State.
“Sometimes you take on an issue and lend your voice so others who don’t have a voice can have the strength to do so,” Davis said. “So we wanted to join the collective group of school districts that say ‘we believe vaping is wrong and we want to do something about it.’”
The motion to join the suit was a 3-3 vote, meaning it fails. McKie, Cheryl Caution-Parker and Manning voted for joining the suit. Lashonda McFadden, Agostini and Elkins voted against joining the lawsuit. Board member Teresa Holmes was not present at the meeting because she was sick, board chair James Manning said. The board may revisit the issue at a later date.
Board members Monica Elkins and Lindsay Agostini voted against joining the lawsuit because Richland 2 has no data to back up how many students in the district are using Juuls or vapes, they said.
“Richland 2 is a data-driven school district,” Elkins said. “I can’t support something in the dark.”
February 10, 2021
Vapor Product C-Store Sales Up More Than 12 Percent
E-cigarette sales continue to recover from a Covid-19 slump. Sales in C-stores are up 12.7 percent after rising 2.9 percent in the previous data release, according to the latest Nielsen convenience store report released last week. Nielsen does not track vape shop data.
Credit: William Thompson
Sales overall had slumped since February 2020, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration implemented its latest round of heightened regulations on the products, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. Overall e-cigarette sales-volume growth has declined steadily since Nielsen’s Aug. 10, 2019, report, when it was up 60.2 percent year over year.
On Feb. 6, 2020, the FDA, among other things, required manufacturers of cartridge-based e-cigarettes, such as Juul Labs, R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., NJoy and Fontem Ventures, to stop making, distributing and selling “unauthorized flavorings” by Feb. 6, or risk enforcement actions.
Top-selling Juul’s four-week dollar sales have dropped from a 50.2 percent increase in the Aug. 10, 2019, report to a 5% uptick in the latest report. By comparison, Reynolds’ Vuse was up 82.2 percent in the latest report and NJoy down 22.3 percent.
Juul’s market share dropped from 52.1percent in the previous report to 51.3 percent. It was at 53.3 percent a year ago. Vuse’s market share climbed from 29.2 percent to 30.6 percent, while No. 3 NJoy slipped from 5 percent to 4.9 percent, and Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs slipped from 3.5 percent to 3.4 percent.
February 8, 2021
SwissX Files Infringement Suit Against Juul Labs
SwissX Labs, a U.S.-based CBD company, has brought a lawsuit claiming that Juul Labs infringed on one of its patents. Filed in the U.S. District Court of Delaware, the suit alleges that Juulpods copy the use of a patented combined e-liquid and vaporization chamber (cartomizer) owned by SwissX.
Credit: Insurance Journal
Owned by billionaire Alki David, SwissX states in the suit that Juul Labs has known about U.S. Patent No. 9,351,522 (522 patent) since at least March 2018. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued the patent in 2016 to inventor Robert Safari, who assigned it SwissX.
After its issue on May 31, 2016, the 522 patent was was active until June 1, 2020. On June 2, 2020, “the enforceability of the 522 patent temporarily lapsed, due to an inadvertent failure to pay the maintenance fee,” according to the filing. On Dec. 21, 2020, SwissX filed a petition to reinstate the 522 patent at the USPTO. The Petition was granted, and SwissX paid the outstanding fee.
“Thus, on December 21, 2020, the [522 patent] was restored to full force and effect … SwissX
is entitled to damages adequate to compensate it for all acts of infringement that occurred, or which may occur, at any point while the [522 patent] was or is in force,” the suit states.
Juul Labs has not publicly responded to the lawsuit. A judge recently dismissed an investor lawsuit against Juul Labs. However, the company still faces lawsuits from several states and school districts around the U.S.
January 28, 2021
Higher-Nicotine Juul Products May Facilitate Switching

Photo: Juul Labs
The nicotine delivery of Juul products available in the United States and Canada (59 mg/mL or 5 percent nicotine by weight) more closely resembles the nicotine delivery and experience of cigarette smoking than Juul products available in the European Union, which contain 18 mg/mL and/or 9 mg/mL of nicotine, according to a new study from Juul Labs published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
Researchers posited that heavier and more dependent smokers in particular may require the greater nicotine delivery of the higher nicotine concentration Juul pods (59 mg/mL) in order to successfully transition away from cigarettes.
The new study, which consisted of 24 adult smokers, assessed the nicotine delivery and subjective effects of combustible cigarettes compared to the Juul system with three nicotine concentrations: 59 mg/mL (U.S. and Canada), 18 mg/mL (U.K. and Canada) and 9 mg/mL (U.K.).
At each of five study visits, participants used one of four Juul products or smoked their usual brand of cigarette during controlled (10 puffs) and ad libitum use (5 minutes) sessions. Blood samples were collected, and levels of nicotine in the bloodstream were measured for each study product. Subjective effects, including relief of craving for cigarettes and withdrawal symptoms, were assessed 30 minutes after participants used each product.

The higher concentration (59 mg/mL) Juul product delivered significantly greater levels of nicotine and significantly reduced craving and withdrawal compared to the Juul with 18 mg/mL and 9 mg/mL nicotine concentrations. Researchers concluded that the lower nicotine delivery and craving relief from the 18 mg/mL and 9 mg/mL Juul pods available in the EU may limit the product’s ability to provide a satisfying alternative to cigarette smoking—particularly for more dependent adult smokers living in that region.
“When considering laws and regulations governing nicotine concentration in ENDS, policymakers should bear in mind that the availability of a variety of alternative nicotine products may facilitate even more smokers transitioning away from cigarettes,” said Mark Rubinstein, vice president of global scientific affairs at Juul Labs.
January 26, 2021
Judge Dismisses Investor Lawsuit Against Juul Labs

Photo: Okan Caliskan from Pixabay
A federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, has dismissed investors’ lawsuit against tobacco distributor Greenlane Holdings, reports Reuters.
Investors filed a class action lawsuit, claiming Greenlane should have mentioned a pending ban on e-cigarettes before publicly offering stock in 2019.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman dismissed the proposed class action, saying the distributor for Juul Labs had no duty to flag San Francisco’s then-pending ban on e-cigarettes to investors ahead of its initial public offering in 2019, according to Reuters. Altman called the class action “nothing more than a hammer in search of a nail.”
Altman ruled that the investors did not have a viable claim under the Securities Act of 1933 because Greenlane warned them of the risk of increased tobacco regulation in its registration statement, and the proposed e-cigarette ban was already public.
January 11, 2021
Greenville the Second South Carolina City to Join Juul Suit
Officials with the Greenville County school district say the school system will file a lawsuit against the makers of Juul e-cigarettes for “targeting its products to school-age children.”
Credit: Insurance Journal

The Greenville County Schools board of trustees voted on Tuesday to hire the Halligan, Mahoney & Williams law firm in Columbia to represent the district on the lawsuit, according to the Greenville News.
“This week, the Board of Trustees voted to protect the health and safety of students. We agreed to pursue legal action against the makers of Juul e-cigarettes for purposely targeting its products to school-age children and the impact that it has had on the School District and its students,” board chairwoman Lynda Leventis-Wells said in a written statement to The Greenville News.
The lawsuit will join dozens of others filed in northern California as part of multidistrict litigation against Juul Labs Inc. Lexington County School District One filed a lawsuit against the company in October that claims Juul’s strategy was “to create a nicotine product that would maximize profits through addiction.”
December 11, 2020
Juul Labs to Exit Irish Market After Just 2 Years
Less than two years ago, Juul Labs entered the Irish vaping market with great enthusiasm. The company now plans to withdraw from the country at the end of this year, according to a story in the Irish Independent.
Credit: Juul Labs
Juul Labs told workers in September that the vaping giant planned to exit some European and Asia-Pacific markets and cutting more of its remaining 2,200 employees.
“Although much has been achieved in a short space of time, at a global level the company has had to make some difficult decisions about how best to serve its mission,” the company told suppliers in Ireland in recent weeks, according to the story.
“As part of this process the company has made the decision to focus its investment on core markets in order to best position itself for the long term, therefore unfortunately have informed us of their intention to exit the Irish market,” it added in a memo seen by the Irish Independent.
“Juul Ireland will be ceasing operations at the end of this 2020 calendar year,” it said.
The company launched in Ireland initially selling its products in 160 Circle-K forecourts and 50 Hale Vaping stores.
November 23, 2020
Juul Labs Shutters South Carolina Facility
Credit: Juul Labs
Juul Labs has shuttered its assembly plant in Lexington County, South Carolina, USA, amid a deteriorating business environment and pushback from local politicians.
“There has been rapid change in the landscape of the vapor category, and these operations are no longer viable,” the company said in a statement to The Post and Courier on Wednesday. “Earlier this summer, we unfortunately had to begin reductions to our manufacturing team.”
In May 2019, Juul announced the new assembly and packaging plant in Lexington County, boosting South Carolina’s economy by about $125 million and creating 500 jobs.
Juul has since suffered a backlash over its marketing practices and heightened restrictions on the vapor business, including flavor bans in many jurisdictions. It has laid off a substantial share of its workforce, discontinued certain products and exited several international markets.
November 19, 2020
Altria Converts Non-Vote Juul Labs Shares to Voting Shares

Credit: Juul Labs
Altria Group has announced that it has elected to convert its non-voting shares in Juul Labs to voting shares, pursuant to its December 2018 investment in the e-cigarette manufacturer.
“Altria does not currently intend to exercise its additional governance rights obtained upon conversion, including the right to elect directors to Juul’s board, or to vote its Juul shares other than as a passive investor, pending the outcome of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) litigation,” Altria stated in a press release.
In April 2020, the FTC filed an administrative complaint challenging Altria’s minority investment in JUUL. Altria believes it has a strong defense and intends to vigorously defend its investment.
“As previously disclosed, Altria expects to account for its investment in JUUL under the fair value option. Under this option, Altria’s consolidated statement of earnings will include any cash dividends received from its investment in Juul as well as any changes in the fair value of the investment, which will be calculated quarterly,” the release states. “Altria intends to treat quarterly changes in the fair value of the investment as a special item and exclude those changes from its adjusted diluted earnings per share.”
In December 2018, Altria made a minority investment in Juul Labs. In exchange for the investment, Altria received a 35 percent economic interest in Juul Labs through non-voting shares, with their conversion to voting shares contingent on antitrust clearance (as that term is defined in the Altria/Juul purchase agreement). Under revised agreement terms announced in January 2020, Altria can designate two representatives to Juul’s board of directors.
November 12, 2020