Tobacco Giant Sues Rivals Over Patents for Cigarette Alternatives

By Jennifer Maloney 

British American Tobacco PLC is suing two of its biggest rivals, alleging the IQOS tobacco heating device developed by Philip Morris International Inc. and sold by Altria Group Inc. infringes on its U.S. patents.

The move is the latest volley in a fight among cigarette giants to grab share in the growing market for smoking alternatives. It follows a similar suit filed two years ago by Philip Morris against BAT in Japan.

The product in question is a hand-held device that heats tobacco sticks without burning them. Marlboro maker Altria launched IQOS in the U.S. last year through a partnership with Philip Morris International, after it became the first heated tobacco device authorized for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is currently sold in Atlanta and Richmond, Va., as well as in dozens of other countries around the world.

BAT has a heated tobacco device called Glo, in addition to cigarette brands such as Newport, Camel and Lucky Strike.

BAT's U.S. e-cigarette business filed a complaint in federal court in Virginia Thursday, alleging that some features of IQOS infringe on patents BAT holds in the U.S. for a vaporizer charging case, a tobacco-containing smoking device and a control body. BAT said it had also filed a patent infringement complaint with the International Trade Commission.

Tobacco companies are in a technology race to provide consumers with the best smoking alternative, and patents are playing an important role, Simon Cleverly, BAT's group head of corporate affairs, said in a statement. "Given the significant investment we have made in developing our products, we simply cannot allow competitors to use our patented innovations and technology in their devices without a license."

Philip Morris and Altria Thursday said they would vigorously defend themselves. Philip Morris, which sells Marlboros outside the U.S., has invested $7 billion over the past two decades to develop smoking alternatives, a spokesman said.

Philip Morris in 2018 filed a similar suit against BAT, alleging that some features of BAT'S Glo device infringed on technologies covered by Philip Morris's Japanese patents. That case is still ongoing in the Japanese court, a Philip Morris spokesman said Thursday.

Saabira Chaudhuri contributed to this article.

Write to Jennifer Maloney at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 09, 2020 17:34 ET (21:34 GMT)

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