Widespread attention continues to be focused on the FDA’s announced plan to regulate additional tobacco products, possibly including cigars. With state legislatures beginning their 2013 sessions, many are signaling how they are planning to take matters into their own hands. In Hawaii, a bill designed to “curtail tobacco use among adolescents and young adults by raising tobacco taxes, while not placing the local premium cigar industry at a competitive disadvantage,” and regulating “characterizing flavors,” is in the pipeline.

Smokeshop magazine provides a comprehensive calendar of industry events, including the upcoming TPE show this month and the IPCPR show in July. Click here for a PDF version of the calendar. We look forward to seeing you at various events throughout the year.

For questions and/or comments, please contact Bryan …

Twas four nights before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except staffers at the White House. That’s right, at 3 p.m. on Friday, December 21, 2012, the last business day before Christmas, the White House finally released its Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan, which included coal in the stocking in the form of more regulations for tobacco companies.

On December 18th, 17 states and the manufacturer-signatories to the Master Settlement Agreement announced a settlement of the manufacturers’ claims that the states failed to satisfy their obligations to “diligently enforce” non-signatories’ escrow requirements.

R.J. Reynolds recently filed a federal lawsuit accusing an e-cigarette merchant of trademark infringement. R.J. Reynolds accused the company of unfair competition and dilution under the Lanham Act based on the company’s alleged use of the Camel and Winston cigarette brand names to describe the company’s e-cigarettes. R.J. Reynolds claimed that the competitor advertised “Winston” and “Camell” flavors on its website.