The Massachusetts legislature has introduced a measure that would impose tobacco excise taxes on e-cigarettes.

House bill number 4291, introduced by the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing on July 19, 2012, would impose substantial excise tax increases on other tobacco products, such as cigars, smoking tobacco and smokeless tobacco. 

Apparently frustrated with FDA’s delays in approving new tobacco products, Lorillard Tobacco Company has filed a citizen petition requesting that FDA exercise enforcement discretion to allow marketing of such products, so long as the manufacturer has submitted a report under Section 905(j) of the Tobacco Control Act at least 90 days before introducing the product.

A federal appellate court recently rejected the tobacco industry’s argument that restrictions imposed as part of a 2006 judgment should be set aside because Congress, in 2009, passed a law that imposed other restrictions on the industry and gave the Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) the primary authority to regulate tobacco products. 

Members of the Troutman Sanders Tobacco practice will attend the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association annual convention and trade show on August 2nd to 6th in Orlando, Florida.  We look forward to seeing you there.

For questions and/or comments, please contact Bryan Haynes, at 804.697.1420 or by 

The US Food and Drug Administration issued a notice in the Federal Register yesterday, July 30, 2012 which seeks comments on proposed collection of Hazardous and Potentially Hazardous Constituents (“HPHCs”) in tobacco products, noting a proposal for data collection was sent to the Office of Management and Budget.

In today’s technology-focused age, commercial websites are ever more sophisticated and interactive, allowing customers to do far more than view and purchase a company’s products.  More and more businesses use social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to reach consumers and build brand loyalty.  Many companies also now host blogs in order to better connect with their customers.  It is also becoming common for businesses to subsidize the operation of their website by including advertisements for non-competing companies selling related products, and in many cases these advertisements are personalized to the website visitor. 

On June 26, 2012, the New York Association of Convenience Stores and major tobacco manufacturers, including Phillip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard, filed suit against the Village of Haverstraw, New York in federal district court regarding the Village’s recent ordinance banning the display of tobacco products and pricing information in retail outlets.

The concept of electronic cigarettes is not new.  Likewise, the idea of obtaining a patent on e-cigarettes is not new – Herbert A. Gilbert obtained a patent on an electronic cigarette in 1963.  But the popularity of e-cigarettes has grown significantly over the past decade, as has the importance of obtaining patent protection for a business’s intellectual property. 

Last year, we reported that National Tobacco Company (“NTC”), the nation’s fourth-largest producer of roll-your-own tobacco products, had filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia challenging the constitutionality of the city’s ban on cigar wrappers. In the lawsuit, NTC sought a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the law.