Tag: news

  • Reynolds Hit with $95 Million Verdict in Vapor Patent Dispute

    Reynolds Hit with $95 Million Verdict in Vapor Patent Dispute

    Photo: New Africa

    A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina awarded Altria Client Services more than $95 million after finding that Reynolds Vapor Co.’s Vuse Alto e-vapor product infringed three Altria patents.

    The jury awarded $95.23 million in past damages through June 30, 2022. Post-trial proceedings will address ongoing damages through the expiration of Altria’s patents in 2035. At trial, Altria urged the jury to find a royalty rate of 5.25 percent, which the jury accepted in returning its award of past damages.

    “Patents are at the core of innovation, and we take very seriously protecting our intellectual property,” said Murray Garnick, executive vice president and general counsel of Altria, in a statement. “We are pleased that the jury recognized the importance of Altria’s innovation and the value of its patent rights.”

    At issue in this case were three patents awarded to Altria Client Services by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office based on filings dating back to April 2015. The jury found that Reynolds Vapor violated Altria’s patents covering the pod assembly used in Vuse Alto.

    The case is Altria Client Services vs. Reynolds Vapor Company et al.

  • Btomorrow Invests in Kanvas’ Vaporizer Technology

    Btomorrow Invests in Kanvas’ Vaporizer Technology

    Photo: By Olivier Le Moal

    BAT’s corporate venturing unit, Btomorrow Ventures (BTV), has invested an undisclosed amount in the Kanvas Co., a developer of patented electronic vaporizer technology solutions.

    The investment will fuel the research, development and growth necessary to commercialize Kanvas’ proprietary Vapetelligence technology platform and further enable scalability of its products, which are designed to promote device safety in electronic vaporizers and regulated marketplaces globally.

    “Kanvas is excited to work with BTV as a strategic investor to advance the commercialization of our unique IP portfolio and technology platform, focusing on our patented and temperature-controlled dosing technology and hardware that provides a secure and controlled delivery system for brands,” said Andy Fathollahi, CEO of Kanvas, in a statement.

    “Kanvas’ pioneering innovations will be a catalyst for brands to support better, safer consumer experiences through integrating higher quality software and smart-chip technology.”

    “BTV is thrilled to support Kanvas. With its innovative product proposition, strong management team and now strategic partnership with BAT, we believe the company is poised for success, and we welcome it to BTV’s portfolio,” said Lukasz Garbowski, BTV investment director.

    Kanvas has a diverse portfolio of patents in technology, software and hardware products to offer brands a comprehensive suite of premium solutions for electronic CBD, cannabis and nicotine-delivery systems.

  • Juul Settles Teen Vaping Investigation With 33 States

    Juul Settles Teen Vaping Investigation With 33 States

    Photo: steheap

    Juul Labs will pay nearly $440 million to settle a two-year investigation by 33 U.S. states into the marketing of its vaping products, which critics have blamed for sparking a surge in underage vaping, reports AP.

    The probe found that Juul marketed its e-cigarettes to underage teens with launch parties, product giveaways and ads and social media posts using youthful models.

    “Through this settlement, we have secured hundreds of millions of dollars to help reduce nicotine use and forced Juul to accept a series of strict injunctive terms to end youth marketing and crack down on underage sales,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said on Sept. 6 in a statement.

    In reality, most of the limits imposed by the settlement won’t affect Juul’s practices, which halted use of parties, giveaways and other promotions after coming under scrutiny several years ago.

    While Juul’s early marketing focused on young, urban consumers, the company has since shifted to pitching its product as an alternative nicotine source for older smokers.

    “We remain focused on our future as we fulfill our mission to transition adult smokers away from cigarettes—the number one cause of preventable death—while combating underage use,” the company said in a statement.

    While resolving one of the biggest legal threats, Juul Labs still faces nine separate lawsuits from other states. Additionally, Juul faces hundreds of personal suits brought on behalf of teenagers and others who say they became addicted to the company’s vaping products.

    The company is also in the process of appealing a marketing denial order (MDO) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which, if upheld, would force its products off the market.

    In June, the FDA rejected Juul Labs’ premarket tobacco product applications, saying that the company has submitted insufficient evidence that its products were appropriate for the protection of public health.

    While the agency subsequently suspended its MDO, citing scientific issues in the application that warrant additional review, the agency stressed that the stay does not rescind the order.

  • Bangladesh Urged to Keep E-Cigarettes Legal

    Bangladesh Urged to Keep E-Cigarettes Legal

    Delon Human (Photo: Taco Tuinstra)

    Bangladesh must keep e-cigarettes legal if it wants to achieve its goal of becoming a tobacco-free country by 2040, according to tobacco harm reduction activists.

    Speaking during a webinar organized by the Bangladesh-based Voices of Vapers and reported by The Daily Star, several experts addressed the government’s recent proposal to ban vapor products, heat-not-burn devices and other cigarette alternatives in a new amendment to the country’s tobacco control legislation.

    Delon Human, president of Health Diplomats, said there is no evidence for the National Tobacco Control Cell’s statement that nicotine in vapes is more harmful than cigarettes.

    “There needs to be a credible harm reduction strategy as practiced by many developed countries,” he added. “The authorities must consider regulating a safer alternative, such as vape, and make it accessible to smokers wanting to quit.”

    Schumann Zaman, president of the Bangladesh Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Traders Association, said not recognizing vape traders and vape users as stakeholders will have major consequences as many of these vapers are using e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool.

    John Dunne, director general of the U.K. Vaping Industry Association, said vapes should be regulated separately because vapes and cigarettes are different products.

    “Vapes are far safer and a proven method of nicotine-replacement therapy [NRT]. Regulating vapes will help smokers who are trying to quit have access to vapes,” he added.

    “Countries such as the U.K., France, New Zealand and Canada have successfully lowered smoking rates by using vaping as NRT. Banning vapes will lower the number of smokers trying to quit.”

  • BAT Study Confirms Positive Impact From Switching to Glo

    BAT Study Confirms Positive Impact From Switching to Glo

    Photo: BAT

    The full results from a year-long study showed that smokers switching exclusively to Glo, BAT’s flagship tobacco-heating product (THP), achieved significant and sustained improvements in several indicators of potential harm associated with early disease development compared to smokers who continued to smoke. This included lung disease, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

    Published in Internal and Emergency Medicine, the results build upon the favorable changes reported at three and six months. The improvements observed were sustained over the 12 months of the study, adding to the weight of evidence that supports Glo as a less risky alternative for adult smokers who would not otherwise quit, according to BAT.

    “The results from this study are the most important data we have ever generated about Glo and for the THP category in general,” said David O’Reilly, director of scientific research at BAT, in a statement.

    “This real-world study allows us to assess the changes that adult smokers switching exclusively to Glo experience by assessing early indicators of potential harm associated with disease development. It provides much needed new evidence about the size of the change and durability of the effect switching completely to Glo can have and reinforces Glo’s potential as a reduced-risk product.”

  • Teens Influenced by Parent’s Vaping, Smoking Habits

    Teens Influenced by Parent’s Vaping, Smoking Habits

    Credit: Aleksandr Yu

    Parents who vape of smoke are 55 percent more likely to have teenagers who will pick up the habit, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

    The researchers have also found that the proportion who have tried e-cigarettes has been increasing dramatically and that although boys are more likely to use e-cigarettes, the rate of use among girls is increasing more rapidly, according to the study of Irish teens, according to media reports.

    The research was carried out by a team at the Tobacco-Free Research Institute Ireland (TFRI), in Dublin. The group examined data on 6,216 17-18-year-olds, including data on whether their parents smoked while they were growing up. The teenagers were asked whether they smoked or used e-cigarettes.

    The study showed that teenagers whose parents smoked were around 55 percent more likely to have tried e-cigarettes and around 51 percent more likely to have tried smoking.

    The team also combined several Irish data sets to provide the most comprehensive analyses of teenage e-cigarette use in Ireland, with information on more than 10,000 Irish teenagers (aged 16 to 17), to look at the overall numbers of teenagers trying or regularly using e-cigarettes and how this is changing over time.

    This showed that the proportion who had tried e-cigarettes had increased from 23 percent in 2014 to 39 percent in 2019.

    The main reasons teenagers gave for trying e-cigarettes were curiosity (66 percent) and because their friends were vaping (29 percent). Only 3 percent said it was to quit smoking.

    The proportion who said they had never used tobacco when they first tried e-cigarettes increased from 32 percent in 2015 to 68 percent in 2019.

  • Brazil Cracks Down on E-Cigarette Retail Sales

    Brazil Cracks Down on E-Cigarette Retail Sales

    Credit: Sharaf Maksumov

    Brazil’s Justice Department Thursday ordered 32 businesses to stop selling e-cigarettes. They have 48 hours to comply or face a $960 fine.

    Vaping products have been banned in Brazil since 2009. However vaping products are still easily available, according to reports.

    One of the businesses on the list is Carrefour, the country’s largest supermarket with over 1,000 stores, according to a media report.

    In July, the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), voted to uphold the country’s e-cigarette brand.

    A survey carried out in the first quarter of 2022 by the Vital Strategies organization and the Federal University of Pelotas, revealed that 19.7 percent of Brazilians aged between 18 and 24 have tried electronic cigarettes.

  • Vapor Recycling Programs Highlighted in New Report

    Vapor Recycling Programs Highlighted in New Report

    Research and Markets has published a global overview of recycling programs for e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vaporizers.

    Every year, manufacturers and consumers generate 44.7 million tons of e-waste containing up to $65 billion worth of raw materials like gold, silver and platinum. The amount of global e-waste is expected to increase by almost 17 percent to 52.2 million tons in 2021, or around 8 percent every year.

    Vape products are e-waste because they contain lithium-ion batteries, a heating element and a circuit board, which can contain plastics and heavy metals.

    While the world’s leading jurisdictions have legislation governing the management of e-waste in general, they generally have no rules designed specifically for  e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products or  vaporizers.

    To fill the void, manufacturers of electronic nicotine delivery devices have developed their own initiatives to tackle e-waste. The Research and Markets report list the following examples:

    • Philip Morris International has established hubs in Europe and Asia that inspect, process and separate materials from electronic devices for recycling.
    • BAT has replaced plastic elements of vapor products with pulp-based alternatives.
    • JTI launched a return scheme of used devices through the recycling boxes at shops.
    • Imperial Brands has launched take-back recycling schemes for used vaping devices and pods.
    • Other vape companies, such as DotMod, Shanlaan and Dovpo, have launched their own recycling programs by return schemes. Innokin is working on battery utilization programs. Recycling companies, such as Gaiaca and TerraCycle cooperate with vape manufacturers to provide services for collecting and recycling e-waste.
    • The Bowman company offers pod refill stations to reduce plastic usage for vapor bottles production in future.
    In the current issue of Vapor Voice, recycling and vapor waste is a main focus.
    Photo: alexlmx
  • SEC Investigating Ignite International for Fraud

    SEC Investigating Ignite International for Fraud

    Dan Bilzerian (right), owner of the cannabis company Ignite

    A cannabis company led by social-media influencer Dan Bilzerian is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    The agency issued a litigation release earlier this week, noting that it “has filed an action against Ignite International Brands, Ltd., a publicly traded company based in Ontario, Canada, seeking an order directing it to comply with an investigative subpoena for documents.”

    Among other things, the SEC is investigating whether the Markham, Ont.-headquartered company violated the federal securities laws by making false or misleading statements in reporting its 2020 financial results.

    The company has failed to produce requested documents, despite multiple accommodations from SEC staff, according to the release.

    “The SEC is continuing its fact-finding investigation and, to date, has not concluded that any individual or entity has violated the federal securities laws,” the release adds.

    The company, which sells a line of cannabis and CBD products, such as CBD-infused toothpicks, reportedly lost $67 million in 2019 and stayed afloat by raising money via debt and selling shares of the company’s stock, according to The Growth Op.

    The company recently went private but was previously traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker “BILZ.” In 2020, the company was trading for around 94 cents a share, down from a high of more than $5.

    Last year, the company announced it was pulling out of the Canadian marijuana market, citing “too many barriers” to build a successful cannabis business.

    “The government’s excessive restrictions of the marketing, sales and distribution of products has diminished the business opportunity while simultaneously making the consumer experience less than optimal,” Bilzerian said at the time.

    During a shareholders meeting held on Aug. 24, 2022, Ignite shareholders approved a resolution to go private that was announced on July 19, 2022, and that the going private transaction has been completed, according to a press release.

  • Study: Cannabis Users More Likely to Use Nicotine

    Study: Cannabis Users More Likely to Use Nicotine

    Credit: Wing-Wing

    Medicinal cannabis users are more prone to consume nicotine products than the general population, according to a recent study.

    The study, published in the American Journal on Addictions, is among the first to examine nicotine use among patients of a medical marijuana dispensary, according to a release from Rutgers University.

    “Simultaneous use of cannabis and nicotine is a growing concern, but while the relationship between recreational cannabis and nicotine use is well-established, little is known about nicotine use among users of medical cannabis,” said Mary Bridgeman, a clinical professor at Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.

    The researchers surveyed 697 patients between ages 18 and 89 at a medical marijuana dispensary on their nicotine and cannabis use, how they self-administered the cannabis (smoked, vaped) and the medical conditions that qualified them for using therapeutic cannabis.

    They found that close to 40 percent of medical marijuana users also use nicotine – sharply higher than the 14 percent of U.S. adults who smoke.

    Therapeutic cannabis users who also used e-cigarettes or didn’t use nicotine at all were about four times more likely to vape, rather than smoke, cannabis than those who exclusively smoked cigarettes.

    The study also found that 75 percent of the respondents smoked cannabis rather than vaped and about 80 percent of the cigarette smokers reported planning to quit in the next six months.

    “These findings reveal that while medical cannabis dispensaries may recommend vaping rather than smoking cannabis due to the health concerns associated with combustible products, this recommendation alone may not influence patients who also smoke cigarettes,” said co-author Marc Steinberg, author of the study and a professor in the department of psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

    “Between the higher rates of nicotine use in those using medical cannabis, the fact that cigarette smokers opt to smoke cannabis as well and that those people also are seeking to quit using nicotine presents a strong argument that dispensaries provide tobacco control messaging at the point-of-sale to encourage cigarette smokers to quit,” Steinberg added. “The strategy also could increase the chances that a medical cannabis user would vape the product, which is a less harmful route than smoking.”