U.S. Trade Panel Sides with Juul Labs, Bans Imports of Altria's NJOY Vaping Devices
The U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled in favor of Juul Labs in a patent dispute over e-cigarette technology. The decision bans the importation of vaping devices and cartridges made by Altria's NJOY, at least some of which are manufactured in China and Malaysia.
The Commission found that NJOY's ACE devices violated Juul's patent rights for vaporizer innovations. As a result, an import ban on the devices will go into effect unless the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under the Trump administration overturns it on public policy grounds.