On September 24-25, the Troutman Sanders tobacco team attended the ECIG USA industry conference in Las Vegas.  Bryan Haynes spoke on a panel entitled, “The Deeming Regulations — Expectations vs. Reality.”  Panelists also included Cynthia Cabrera of SFATA, Bill Bartkowski of VapAria, and Jim Swauger of Reynolds.

Bryan Haynes, Troutman Sanders tobacco practice partner, will be attending the 2014 American Bar Association Section of State & Local Government Fall Council Meeting from October 9-12 in Denver, Colorado. Bryan will act as moderator during the October 9th afternoon panel entitled “The Regulation (or not!) of E-Cigarettes.”

In a notice to be published September 17th in the Federal Register, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products announced that it will conduct a public workshop to discuss e-cigarettes, including product science, packaging and labeling, risks and benefits of product characteristics, strategies to mitigate consumer risks, and methods for evaluating product performance.  The notice further indicates that the FDA intends to conduct future workshops addressing both individual- and population-level health impacts of e-cigarettes.  The workshops will be held on December 10 and 11, 2014 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The Utah Department of Commerce recently announced enforcement action against three e-cigarette companies for alleged violations of state consumer protection laws.  A copy of the Department’s press release is attached here:  14-08-27_dcp-e-cigarette

Bryan Haynes, Troutman Sanders tobacco practice partner, will be attending the ECIG Vegas Industry Conference from September 24-25 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bryan will be a panelist during the September 24th morning session entitled “The Deeming Regulations: Expectation vs. Reality.”

While patent litigation in the e-cigarette industry has garnered significant attention, the growing number of companies and brands competing in this market raises a host of issues with other types of intellectual property—issues that have already swept across industries that similarly involve a reusable base product and high-margin refill supplies, such as coffee machines and pods, razors and blades, and printers and ink cartridges. 

Troutman Sanders tobacco team partner Bryan Haynes was interviewed for a September 1st France 24 television report titled “US tobacco giants want lion’s share of e-cigarette business.”  The report describes the impact of e-cigarettes on the American tobacco market, and how the major tobacco companies are entering that market.

On August 14, 2014, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (“RJR”) and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc. (“Santa Fe”) sued the United States Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”), among others, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.  In their two-count complaint, RJR and Santa Fe allege violations of the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act (the “FETRA”) and the Administrative Procedure Act (the “APA”).