“e-Smoking guns: The great vape wars of the twenty-first century are underway. Tobacco titans RJ Reynolds (who owns RAI Strategic Holdings, Reynolds Vapor Company, and markets the Vuse product) and Philip Morris have been battling in district court on patent infringement of their vaping device units (particularly the IQOS®) while relative (but rather cash-flush) upstart Juul has filed many dozens of complaints and some ITC actions against smaller competitors. Here it seems clear that RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris have been negotiating a cross-licensing deal for some time; just weeks after Winston-Salem titan RJ Reynolds sued Philip Morris, PM struck back with three IPRs this week.”
ARTICLE LINK:
Patent Filings Roundup: Forum Selection Clause Ends an IPR; Vape Wars: Philip Morris Strikes Back