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Mealey's Tobacco

April 21, 2023
Request For $34M In Disgorged Profits Rejected In Rolling Paper Row

CHICAGO — A rolling paper company deemed liable by jurors for copyright and trademark infringement that nonetheless prevailed on its own claim for common-law unfair competition will not be awarded disgorged profits, a federal judge in Illinois ruled.
April 20, 2023
Judge Won’t Dismiss Dead Smoker’s Family’s Suit Against Tobacco Companies

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge on April 19 granted in part and denied in part tobacco companies’ motion to dismiss a family’s personal injury lawsuit against them for causing the father’s death from laryngeal cancer, dismissing three siblings’ claims for lack of standing but finding that the wife and daughter sufficiently alleged a product defect.
April 20, 2023
Jury Awards No Damages To Smoker’s Family In Retrial On Punitives

MIAMI — A Florida jury awarded no damages to the family of a deceased smoker during the retrial of the punitive damages phase in the family’s Engle wrongful death action, two years after a separate jury awarded a $2 million punitive damages verdict that was later vacated by the judge due to prejudicial closing arguments by the family’s lawyer.
April 19, 2023
8th Circuit Won’t Rehear Challenge To City’s Flavored Tobacco Ban

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 18 denied a petition filed by tobacco companies and retailers for en banc or panel rehearing of their challenge to a Minnesota city’s ordinance banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products, despite their argument that a panel’s ruling upholding the ban conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent and could cause “regulatory bedlam.”
April 18, 2023
5th Circuit Orders Response To FDA Petition For Rehearing Of Menthol Vape Ban

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 17 ordered a response from a tobacco company to the Food and Drug Administration’s petition for rehearing after the Fifth Circuit stayed FDA’s marketing denial order (MDO) banning sales of the company’s menthol-flavored e-cigarette products, in which FDA asks that the case be reheard en banc with another e-cigarette case in which en banc review is pending.
April 14, 2023
Federal Circuit Reverses Dismissal, Finds E-Cigarette Patent Sufficiently Pleaded

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a district court’s rulings dismissing a consumer products company’s e-cigarette patent infringement claim against a tobacco company as “baseless,” denying it leave to amend and awarding the tobacco company attorney fees after finding that the court improperly found the pleadings insufficient.
April 13, 2023
Juul Enters Settlements Worth $470M In States’ Youth Vaping Suits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The attorney generals of the District of Columbia and six states on April 12 announced a $462 million settlement of their claims against Juul Labs Inc. for illegally marketing its e-cigarettes to minors and causing a youth vaping epidemic, just days after JLI settled claims brought by the state of West Virginia for $7.9 million, bringing the total value of JLI’s settlements with states and territories to date to more than $1 billion.
April 13, 2023
Florida Judge Enters $8.1M Judgment In Dead Smoker’s Kids’ Favor After Engle Trial

MIAMI — A Florida state court judge entered judgment in the amount of $8.1 million in compensatory damages against a tobacco company for the three children of a smoker who died in 1996 from lung cancer after smoking two to three packs of cigarettes a day for more than 30 years. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
April 13, 2023
Amici Weigh In Ahead Of En Banc 5th Circuit’s Review Of Flavored Vapes’ FDA Ban

NEW ORLEANS — Several amici curiae have filed briefs to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals where an en banc rehearing of two flavored vape companies’ petitions for review of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decisions to ban the companies’ e-cigarette and e-liquid products is pending, with the most recent brief by public health groups arguing that the FDA’s marketing denial order (MDO) was “not arbitrary and capricious."
April 13, 2023
FTC Extends Deadline In Altria, Juul Appeal After Companies Part Ways

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission extended its deadline to rule on an appeal of an administrative ruling recommending dismissal of the FTC’s antitrust claims against tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) to give it more time to consider Altria and JLI’s recent motions seeking to dismiss the litigation as moot in light of Altria voluntarily unwinding its investment in JLI and seeking to discuss a potential settlement.
April 11, 2023
9th Circuit Urged To Affirm Class Certification Against Altria In E-Cigarette MDL

SAN FRANCISCO — The members of two certified classes bringing claims against tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries urge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an appellee brief to affirm certification of claims against Altria for allegedly causing a youth vaping crisis as an investor in e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), even though multidistrict litigation claims against JLI and its executives have since been settled.
April 11, 2023
MDL Judge Denies Altria’s Bid For Summary Judgment In San Francisco Schools’ Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries on April 10 denied Altria’s motion for summary judgment on claims brought against it by the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) for negligence, public nuisance and violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by causing a “vaping crisis,” which will be heard in an upcoming bellwether trial.
April 03, 2023
Panel Affirms ITC Decision In Full In Win For R.J. Reynolds Tobacco

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A limited exclusion order barring Philip Morris USA Inc. and its affiliates from importing various tobacco heating products that infringe two R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. patents was upheld March 31 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which said a challenge to the validity of the patents fails.
March 29, 2023
Illinois Panel Finds Jurisdiction Over Battery Maker In Exploding Vape Suit

CHICAGO — An Illinois appellate panel on March 28 affirmed a trial court’s personal jurisdiction over a Korean battery-maker’s subsidiary in a personal injury lawsuit brought by a man who claims that he was injured by an exploding e-cigarette device after finding that the company sold thousands of its batteries into Illinois for use in other products.
March 29, 2023
Texas Supreme Court Questions Battery Maker On Jurisdiction In Exploding Vape Case

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court during oral arguments questioned a Korean battery-maker and its U.S. subsidiary about their argument that a trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over them in a personal injury lawsuit brought by a man who was burned after a battery they manufactured exploded in his e-cigarette device, which the man’s counsel argues was a “foreseeable” use of the product.
March 24, 2023
5th Circuit Keeps RJR Menthol Vapes On Market, Cites FDA’s ‘Secret’ Flavor Ban

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 23 granted two consolidated petitions to stay the Food and Drug Administration’s marketing denial order (MDO) banning sales of a tobacco company’s menthol-flavored e-cigarette products pending appeal after finding the company likely to succeed in its argument that the FDA imposed a “secret” ban of all flavored e-cigarettes without notifying e-cigarette manufacturers.
March 22, 2023
Tobacco Companies’ Suit Challenging California’s Flavor Ban Dismissed

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by tobacco companies and a retailers’ association against the California attorney general and San Diego County district attorney challenging a statewide ban of sales of flavored tobacco products, finding that the ban does not violate the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution and that the plaintiffs’ preemption argument is moot under Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals precedent.
March 14, 2023
Rehearing Sought Before 8th Circuit In Challenge To City’s Flavored Tobacco Ban

ST. LOUIS — Tobacco companies and retailers on March 13 petitioned the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for en banc or panel rehearing of their challenge to a Minnesota city’s ordinance banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products, arguing that a panel’s recent ruling upholding the ban conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent and could cause “regulatory bedlam.”
March 13, 2023
Judge Dismisses Tobacco Companies’ Suit Against FDA Opposing Graphic Warnings

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by several tobacco companies challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed new graphic warnings for tobacco products after the parties jointly stipulated to dismissal in light of a ruling nullifying the new warnings issued in a parallel lawsuit in Texas federal court.
March 13, 2023
Juul, Chicago Settle Youth Vaping Lawsuit For $23.8 Million

CHICAGO — The city of Chicago on March 10 announced that it has settled a complaint it brought against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), which agreed to pay $23.8 million to resolve claims that it illegally marketed its vaping products to youth in Chicago with “colorful, playful” social media marketing.
March 10, 2023
Vape Companies, Owner Say Court Improperly Found Jurisdiction In Chicago’s Suit

CHICAGO — Two e-cigarette companies and their owner on March 9 filed an amended motion for summary judgment in Illinois federal court on claims brought against them by the city of Chicago, arguing that the court improperly denied their motion to dismiss and found jurisdiction based on an estimated amount in controversy due to fines they could potentially face, while also seeking to exclude the city’s expert witness on youth marketing as “irrelevant.”
March 09, 2023
San Francisco Schools Urge MDL Judge Not To Dismiss RICO Claims Against Altria

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) urges the California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries to deny Altria’s motion for summary judgment on SFUSD’s claims for violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, rejecting the argument that a settlement it reached with e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) would render its claim for RICO damages a form of double recovery.
March 08, 2023
Massachusetts High Court Questions Timeliness Of Smokers’ Wrongful Death Suits

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court during consolidated oral arguments questioned attorneys as to whether the estates of two deceased smokers were barred from bringing wrongful death actions against tobacco companies after trial courts dismissed the lawsuits as time-barred based on the date of diagnosis of tobacco-related illnesses for the smokers’ injuries, rather than the date of death.
March 07, 2023
Tobacco Company Argues In Favor Of Juror Interviews After Smoker Wins $6.5M

BOSTON — A tobacco company on March 6 filed a brief in a Massachusetts court denying that it will “harass” jurors by calling them to ask questions about a recent trial at which they awarded $5 million to a smoker with laryngeal cancer who also received $1.5 million in prejudgment interest and urging the court to deny the smoker’s emergency motion to prohibit it from contacting jurors. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
March 06, 2023
Texas Supreme Court To Hear Battery Maker’s Challenge In Exploding Vape Case

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court granted two petitions for review, one filed by a Korean battery-maker and one by its U.S. subsidiary, which are seeking to challenge a Texas appellate panel’s rulings affirming a trial court’s finding of personal jurisdiction over them in a personal injury lawsuit brought by a man who claims that they manufactured the battery that exploded in his portable e-cigarette vape device, causing him severe burns.