Vape maker NJOY has filed a patent complaint against rival Juul Labs and is asking the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban imports of certain Juul products, including its key devices. The ITC complaint was filed on August 22 along with a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
Juul has also taken similar legal action against NJOY Ace. In June, Juul filed a complaint against NJOY Ace with the ITC, asking the agency to ban the importation of devices bearing the Ace label. The NJOY Ace is the only FDA-approved vape device. The ITC announced that it would investigate Juul’s claims on August 1.
Earlier this year, NJOY was acquired by the tobacco conglomerate Altria Group for $2.75 billion. Shortly thereafter, Altria traded its 35% stake in Juul Labs for a number of unrelated patents. Altria terminated its non-compete agreement with Juul last September.
Both companies are now suing each other for intellectual property infringement. NJOY parent Altria said that the two NJOY patents it accused Juul of infringing on were acquired as part of a settlement with Ohio-based Fuma Corp. Fuma also recently settled with RJ Reynolds after a federal judge ruled that Reynolds’ Vuse Solo and Vuse Ciro infringed on Fuma patents.
Patent disputes between vape and tobacco companies and their competitors are common in the industry. Last September, Altria received a $95 million settlement from RJ Reynolds after a federal jury found that Reynolds’ Vuse Alto device infringed on three Altria patents. Reynolds argued that the lawsuit was retaliation for its complaint against Altria over its IQOS tobacco product. In that case, the ITC ordered Altria to stop selling imported IQOS devices.
Juul Labs has also filed numerous complaints with the ITC and sued companies that manufacture or sell counterfeit products and “Juul-compatible” pods.
The copyright battle between NJOY and Juul Labs is still ongoing, The Vape Club will continue to update as soon as new information is received.
