Tag: Juul

  • Maine Backs Out of Multi-State Juul Labs Settlement

    Maine Backs Out of Multi-State Juul Labs Settlement

    Credit: Ianm35

    Not everyone is satisfied with Juul Labs’ multi-state settlement over its youth marketing practices. The Maine Attorney General’s Office on Friday said his state would be backing out of its $11 million agreement with e-cigarette manufacturer after objecting to certain conditions from the company.

    Maine was set to receive an estimated $11.6 million over the next six to 10 years as part of a nearly $440 million settlement between the manufacturer and 33 states and territories. The investigation found that Juul had marketed its products to youth.

    However, as part of the agreement, Juul wanted states to waive the rights of school districts to pursue their own lawsuits, according to the Maine AG’s office. Maine wasn’t willing to agree to that.

    “We are disappointed in the outcome of these negotiations, but ultimately we were unwilling to waive the rights of other entities who are also trying to hold Juul accountable for its deception,” Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement to The Maine Monitor.

    It was not immediately clear if other states would also abandon the agreement.

  • Vuse Continues to Expand U.S. Market Share Over Juul

    Vuse Continues to Expand U.S. Market Share Over Juul

    Credit: Syda Productions

    The Vuse e-cigarette brand has expanded its U.S. market share to two full percentage points over Juul.

    Vuse, a product of of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., held 35.1 percent of the market share, compared with Juul at 33.1 percent, according to the latest Nielsen analysis of convenience store data that covers the four-week period ending May 21.

    For the latest report, NJoy dropped from 3.1 percent to 3 percent, while Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs slipped from 2.1 percent to 1.9 percent, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

    By comparison, Vuse was ahead 34.8 percent to Juul’s 34.4 percent for the four-week period ending April 23. That was the first time Vuse held the top market share in the Nielsen report since November 2017.

    However, for the past 52 weeks, Juul remains ahead 35.9 percent to 30.8 percent.

    According to Barclays, Nielsen largely covers the big chains. For the smaller chains, the group extrapolates trends, which is why trend changes don’t appear immediately in Nielsen.

    As recently as May 2019, Juul held a 74.6 percent U.S. e-cig market share. That’s which is when a series of regulatory actions led to product-reduction concessions by Juul Labs Inc.

    Juul’s four-week dollar sales in the latest report have dropped from a 50.2 percent increase in the Aug. 10, 2019, report to a 9.2 percent decline in the latest report.

  • Utah Schools Join Juul Labs Class Action Suit

    Utah Schools Join Juul Labs Class Action Suit

    Credit: Steheap

    Nearly every school district in the state of Utah joined a mass tort lawsuit against Juul Labs. Park City Schools is the only Utah school district not participating in the lawsuit.

    The lawsuit claims Juul Labs was deliberately using youthful marketing strategies. The lawsuit also claims the company misrepresents and fails to mention that its e-cigarettes are “more potent or addictive” than cigarettes, according to KUTV.

    Juul Labs removed all flavors other than tobacco, mint and menthol from their offerings in 2019 after federal regulators accused the vape maker of using the flavors to lure minors to vape. That same year, the company announced it was suspending its print, broadcast and online advertising in the United States.

    The Frantz Law Group of California has filed the mass tort lawsuit on behalf of 700 school districts across the country. Salt Lake City law firm Kirton McConkie will head up the Utah portion of the lawsuit. Attorney Jim Frantz and William Shinoff say Juul Labs directly marketed to minors, “because we’re dealing directly with minors, and undermining them and addicting them and that’s really as low as you can go,” says Frantz.

  • 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.

  • Look Back: Vapor in 2021

    Look Back: Vapor in 2021

    Last year was a difficult one for vapor companies as regulation, taxation and flavor bans made their impact on the industry.

    By VV staff

    On Sept. 9, 2020, e-cigarette manufacturers needed to have submitted premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to keep their electronic nicotine-delivery system (ENDS) products on the market. Going into 2021, many applicants hoped to receive marketing approval orders. That didn’t work out. Instead, the FDA rejected the vast majority of applications—many of them for excluding studies that the agency didn’t appear to require at the start of the process.

    By Dec. 31, 2021, the FDA had issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) for most of the more than 6.5 million PMTAs submitted by 500 companies. Only an estimated 80,000 products remain under review and, as of press time, only the Vuse Solo and two tobacco-flavored Solo pods have received a marketing approval order. Many of the applications still under review are “ones submitted by the companies with the largest market shares because they tend to be the largest and most complex applications,” according to Mitch Zeller, head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP).

    The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) banned the mailing of vapor products in 2021, and Congress started debating a federal nicotine tax, which at press time had been removed from the legislation. Last year, many MDO recipients had those orders stayed by a court or rescinded by the FDA. Withdrawn products returned to market, leaving retailers confused. Misinformation about vaping was widespread throughout the year. Synthetic nicotine and disposable vape pens began to dominate sales and several new cannabinoids came to market. Let’s look back at the top stories of 2021.

    January

    Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach, both in the Los Angeles area, began to enforce a ban on vapor products, the strictest vaping rules in the U.S.

    Shares in Chinese e-cigarette maker RLX Technology, parent to the RELX brand, jumped 146 percent in their trading debut after raising $1.4 billion in its U.S. initial public offering.

    Following the enactment of smoke-free laws in Paraguay, every South American country banned vaping and smoking in most public places.

    The FDA sent its first warning letters to manufacturers of ENDS products that did not submit PMTAs by the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline.

    Credit: TPB

    February

    Turning Point Brands announced a proposed private offering of $250 million aggregate principal amount of its senior secured notes due 2026.

    The public comment period began for the U.S. Postal Service’s ENDS mailing rules. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s (RJRV) Vuse Alto began selling nationally in the U.S.

    Utah Senator Mitt Romney pushed for flavored vaping products to be pulled from shelves across the United States.

    March

    The World Health Organization study group on Tobacco Product Regulations recommended prohibiting open systems.

    The litigants in two lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the FDA’s Deeming Rule for vapor products, Big Time Vapes and Moose Jooce, asked the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to take up their cases.

    The Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children (PACT) Act forced many companies to end online sales to U.S. customers. Many went out of business altogether because of the new rules.

    China announced its intent to overhaul rules governing the ENDS market. The news caused a steep drop in the value of RLX Technology shares, from which the company has yet to recover.

    Kate Wang / Credit: RELX

    April

    Virginia became the 16th state and first southern U.S. state to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

    Charlie’s Holdings, parent to the Charlie’s Chalk Dust and Pacha Mama brands, raised $3 million in a private stock sale.

    American TV personality Phillip Calvin McGraw, also known as Dr. Phil, wrongly blamed the e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI) lung illness outbreak on vaping nicotine products. The USPS published its guidance for mailing vaping products in the Federal Register.

    The FDA stated its intent to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes, saying it would exclude e-liquids.

    May

    An estimated 3,000 people visited the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) on the opening day of the three-day event, the first vapor trade show since the pandemic began.

    The WHO reasserted its abstinence-only approach to nicotine. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Philip Morris International’s IQOS device infringes on two patents owned by BAT subsidiary Reynolds American Inc.

    Meanwhile, a judge ruled that RJRV’s Vuse Solo and Ciro e-cigarettes infringe patents owned by Fuma International. Joining a growing number of U.S. states, New York expressly prohibited Delta-8 THC and other THC isomers derived from hemp.

    The FDA published a list of ENDS products that could be legally marketed in the U.S.

    June

    Poda Holdings launched its “zero cleaning” heat-not-burn (HnB) product after six years of development. SCOTUS denied Big Time Vapes and Moose Joose a request for a writ of certiorari. The German Bundestag signed off on a bill to raise taxes on combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes and HnB tobacco products.

    An investor filed a class action suit against RLX Technology, claiming the manufacturer overstated its financials and misrepresented potential regulatory risks when it filed its IPO. San Francisco, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Canada proposed or enacted flavor bans.

    A study in the U.K. gave homeless people free e-cigarette starter packs. North Carolina settled its lawsuit with Juul Labs for $40 million.

    July

    Vaporesso and FEELM parent, Smoore International Holdings, was the only vaping technology company to make the Forbes 2021 Global 2000 list.

    Australia set maximum fines of up to aus11 million ($8.2 million) for businesses caught selling illegal nicotine vaping products.

    The FDA was accused of issuing unwarranted warning letters and leaving companies off of its list of accepted PMTAs. The agency was also criticized for using poorly functioning PMTA filing software.

    Juul Labs paid $51,000 to buy an entire issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior to publish its own vapor studies and make it publicly available. The town of Brookline, Massachusetts, prohibited the sale of all tobacco-related products to anybody born after Jan. 1, 2000. The Chinese vaping company Aspire Global announced terms for its U.S. IPO—which didn’t happen.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration raided the cannabis culture and accessories trade show, CHAMPS, because vendors were giving unauthorized Delta-8 THC product samples. Bidi Vapor parent, Kaival Brands, began trading on the NASDAQ.

    August

    The FDA issued a Refuse to File letter to the JD Nova Group for its estimated 4.5 million PMTAs, which accounted for approximately two-thirds of the total number of PMTA submissions.

    Smok Parent, IVP Technology, considered a Hong Kong IPO—which didn’t happen. The FDA issued the first MDOs covering more than 55,000 products.

    A study found that, contrary to what earlier studies suggested, vaping products are not associated with increased heart attack incidence among people without a history of smoking combustible cigarettes.

    September

    As the PMTA deadline approached, the FDA asked for more time before deciding whether some “e-cigarettes from market leader Juul Labs” and others are appropriate for the protection of public health. Numerous companies received MDOs from the FDA the night before the deadline.

    Vuse became the No. 1 global vaping brand by value share. No product got marketing orders on the court-imposed Sept. 9 deadline; instead, the FDA issued MDOs to more than 130 small companies, including Turning Point Brands, requiring companies to pull an estimated 946,000 products from the market.

    Congress proposed the U.S. Tobacco Tax Equity (TTE) Act, which would tax vaping products the same as combustible cigarettes. The legislation later gets attached to the Build Back Better (BBB) Act. The FDA released its annual National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) showing that youth use of e-cigarettes fell sharply in 2021, the second consecutive year of major declines.

    The FDA said the 2021 NYTS can’t be compared to previous years because Covid-19 caused schools to close and altered testing procedures.  

    October

    Zanoprima Lifesciences announced the commercial production of its SyNic brand of synthetic (S)-nicotine. Turning Point Brands had its MDO rescinded by the FDA because the company did in fact submit newly required studies.

    The FDA’s Fatal Flaw review process was revealed after court documents were released. After more than six months, the USPS finally posted for public inspection its rules for mailing e-cigarettes in the Federal Register.

    The FDA gave the first ENDS marketing approval to RJRV’s Vuse Solo device and two tobacco-flavored pods, which are widely regarded as antique products compared to current vaping offerings.

    The FDA authorized the marketing of four oral tobacco products that are no longer on the market. Ten MDOs were rescinded or stayed by the FDA or in court.

    November

    More details surfaced surrounding the Fatal Flaw review, a simple review in which the reviewer examines the submission to identify whether it contains the necessary types of studies. “The Fatal Flaw review will be limited to determining presence or absence of such studies; it will not evaluate the merits of the studies,” an FDA memorandum states.

    Previously proposed nicotine/vapor tax increases were removed from the BBB Act.

    The Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control held its ninth session, this time virtually.

    The nicotine tax resurfaced in the BBB Act. RJRV settled its Fuma lawsuit two days before the trial was set to start.

    Biden nominated former FDA chief Robert Califf to again lead agency.

    December

    Draft rules governing e-cigarettes and vapor products were issued by China’s tobacco regulator.

    The nicotine tax was again removed from the BBB Act.

    The U.S. Trade Representative upheld the ITC’s finding that Philip Morris International’s IQOS infringes on BAT patents and Altria ended all U.S. sales.

    The Spanish government took control the country’s sales and distribution of vaping products.

    CTP Director Mitch Zeller announced plans to retire from the CTP in April.

    Once the largest chain of vape shops, Avail Vapor sold the majority of its retail locations and closed its remaining stores.

    Turning Point Brands received a USPS exemption for its VaporBeast subsidiary’s vape mail.

    The FDA authorized the marketing of 22nd Century Group’s low-nicotine, combustible filtered cigarettes as modified-risk tobacco products.

    Looking ahead

    The outlook for 2022 is vague at best for vapor. The FDA has a new director, and Zeller is retiring from the CTP, and things can change quickly under new leadership. It’s expected that the FDA will make decisions on the major ENDS brands at some point in the year, and there are still an estimated 44 lawsuits pending over the issuing of MDOs. The industry has already seen numerous vapor-related businesses close, consolidate or be bought out by larger competitors. Experts say that much of the same can be expected in 2022.

    “With the announcement of Zeller stepping down, I think we will continue to see vastly extended approval times for the majority of vapor products still being evaluated by the FDA, especially with open litigation covering many of these products,” said Josh Church, managing director of Roots Holding. “The products that do make it through the approval process will be high-value SKUs to large tobacco product manufacturers and will likely either be bought outright or there will be some agreement in equity share to utilize tobacco’s historic distribution network.”

    Last year left a lot of questions that the industry still needs answers to in 2022. There also probably won’t be many major changes in the vapor market other than continued sales growth in 2022, according to Church. “I think we can all agree that 2021 was a rough year. I believe that this year, we will observe the run out of the mail ban—effects of the PACT Act—on ecommerce,” he said. “That will come alongside continued brick-and-mortar business closures for those who don’t diversify their product offerings. I wouldn’t say 2022 is going to be worse than 2021, but I don’t expect it to change very much either.”

  • 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.”

  • U.S. Vapor Sales Still Slow After Enhanced Regulation

    U.S. Vapor Sales Still Slow After Enhanced Regulation

    Thee market-share gap between the top-selling U.S. electronic cigarettes remained unchanged with both having a slight decline in the latest Nielsen analysis of convenience store data. The report covers the four-week period ending Dec. 18, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

    Nielsen determined No. 1 Juul was at 37.6 percent, down from 38.2 percent in the previous report.

    Meanwhile, the Vuse brand of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. had a 33.5 percent market share, down from 34 percent in the previous report. NJoy was at 3 percent, unchanged from the previous report, while Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs was at 2.3 percent, down from 2.4 percent.

    Overall, sales of electronic cigarettes were up 4.8 percent year over year for the latest four-week period, boosted by recent price hikes. Still, 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.”

  • 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.