Schweitzer-Mauduit International yesterday announced that it filed a patent infringement action against the Delfort Group, Astra Tobacco Corporation, Julius Glatz GmbH and LIPtec GmbH over the sale of low-ignition cigarette paper.

On 8 February 2010 Schweitzer-Mauduit International filed a patent infringement action in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division. The suit alleges that the defendants infringe United States Patent Number 6,725,867 based on the sale of cigarette papers in the U.S. that are designed for use in the manufacture of lower ignition propensity cigarettes.
The company stated that it does not undertake the action lightly or in haste, but that it “felt that it was appropriate to take this action now in light of our assessment of activities in the market. Schweitzer-Mauduit has been engaged in the study of the mechanisms at work and the means for designing cigarette papers that aid in controlling the ignition of a cigarette for over 20 years. To our knowledge, this substantially predates work by any of our competitors in this area and is the foundation on which Schweitzer-Mauduit has built a portfolio of patents around the world.”
Schweitzer-Mauduit also said that it initiated the action on the firm belief that their position was well supported. The company is represented by the firms of Jones Day and Buist, Moore Smythe & McGee P.A. (ci)