Fontem Ventures, the e-cigarette arm of Imperial Tobacco, filed suits alleging patent infringement against nine US companies including a Lorillard unit and Njoy, according to TobaccoToday.info.

Four patents are the subject of suits filed on 5 March in the US District Court for central California, TobaccoToday said in a blog post. The suit names LOEC, the Lorillard unit that makes blu eCigs, Njoy, Spark Industries (Cig20), Vapor Corp, FIN Branding/Victory Electronic Cigarettes, CB Distributors (21st Century Smoke), Logic Technology Development, VMR Products (V2 cigs, Vapor Couture), and Ballantyne Brands (Mistic), according to the blog.
Netherlands-based Fontem Ventures was the vehicle for Imperial’s USD 75 million (EUR 54 million) purchase last year of e-cig patents from Dragonite International, a Chinese company co-founded by Hon Lik, the man credited with inventing the modern e-cigarette.
Hon joined the Fontem team as part of the deal which the company, in a statement made at the time, said was for global patents of new and core vapor technologies.