Litigation over intellectual property relating to nicotine products has risen more than 10-fold since 2015, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing data from Maxval and Lexis Nexis.
The increase in patent litigation appears to be related to tobacco companies’ intensified search for smoking alternatives.
In September, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Philip Morris International and Altria must stop imports of IQOS heated-tobacco sticks due to a patent dispute with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, which is owned by British American Tobacco. The case is now in review and can be appealed. But in the worst-case scenario, IQOS will be banned from the lucrative American tobacco market.
PMI and BAT are furthest ahead in their shift to smoke-free technologies with respective targets to derive more than half and one-fifth of net revenue from less harmful products by the middle of the decade. They are also among the most active litigants.
The two have a patent dispute pending in Japan, another key market for smokeless products. And although September’s U.S. ruling went in BAT’s favor, the British firm recently lost disputes against its rival in the United Kingdom and Poland.