UNITED STATES
IQOS imports remain banned

Philip Morris International Inc. and partner Altria Group Inc. have to stop importing their IQOS heated-tobacco sticks into the US after a deadline passed without any action by the Biden administration to stop it, reports Bloomberg.

Philip Morris and Reynolds America Inc. had each been talking with administration officials since September, when the International Trade Commission (ITC) ordered the import ban in September after finding that IQOS infringed two Reynolds patents for electrically-powered devices with a heater to generate an aerosol. The order entered a sixty-day presidential review period.
In an email on 29 November, the Office of the US Trade Representative confirmed no action had been taken, meaning the ban automatically went into effect. The next step for Philip Morris and Altria is to seek a delay with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, the nation’s top patent court, which will hear any appeal of the underlying patent case., the report said.
According to Bloomberg, Philip Morris said it’s disappointed in the results. “Our contingency plans to return IQOS to the U.S. market are underway,” it said in an emailed statement. “The US patent office is also reviewing certain claims of the patents in question with initial rulings expected in 2022, albeit subject to an appeal process.”
BAT’s Assistant General Counsel, Gareth Cooper, said in a statement: “Today’s announcement provides a measure of success for our enforcement of IP rights to ensure we can continue to innovate, as is common practice among innovation-based industries. As we have strenuously noted, there was no reason to overturn the policy and legal arguments already rejected by the foremost global experts on patent law, and the ITC’s exclusion order was properly issued and consistent with the public interest.”

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