Altria Group, Inc. has announced that its subsidiary, NJOY, has filed a complaint against JUUL Labs, Inc. with the US International Trade Commission (ITC).
The complaint seeks a ban on the importation and sale of certain JUUL e-vapour products, including its currently marketed JUUL device and JUULpods. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the JUUL products infringe certain patents owned by NJOY, according to a Altria press release.
“Protecting our intellectual property is critical to achieving our Vision,” said Murray Garnick, Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “JUUL has infringed upon our patents through the sale of its imported products, and we ask the ITC to impose appropriate remedies in response to these trade violations.”
NJOY has also filed a complaint against JUUL in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware based on the same patent infringement. NJOY ACE is currently the only pod-based e-vapour product to receive marketing authorization from the FDA, which deemed the marketing of the ACE device and three ACE tobacco-flavored pods as “appropriate for the protection of public health.”