Big Tobacco Sues E-Cigarette Company

Phillip Morris sues over the use
of the letter “M” to squash
competition by E-Cigs

The tobacco giant Phillip Morris has been targeting Veppo E-Cigarettes for potential trademark infringement of the Marlboro mark.

The websites VeppoCig.com and E-CigaretteDirect.com have been contacted by attorneys for Phillip Morris (PM USA) via email and certified letter.

The letter claimed that E-CigaretteDirect.com is infringing on PM USA’s trademark of the Marlboro logo and word mark. The item in question is their M’boro like flavored e-liquid. PM USA would like E-CigaretteDirect.com and VeppoCig.com to stop using the letter “M” in that particular font, claiming that it is ‘confusingly similar to the font PM USA uses on its MARLBORO cigarette packaging.”

The Font
“The font that is used for the M’boro flavored e-liquid is a Times New Roman Font. The only similarity it may have to the marlboro font is that it is a serif font. However, Times New Roman is a widely used font and in no way infringes on PM USA Trademark” stated Gina King, brand manager for VeppoCig.com

The Word
The letter from PM USA also requested that the websites remove the word “M’boro” from their description of the e-liquid. The reason again, was “because M’Boro is confusingly similar” and the sites “merely removed the letters “a”, “r”, and “l” and inserted an apostrophe”.

Ms. King responded by stating “We are not aware at this point that PM USA has a trademark on the word M’boro nor on the letter M”.

You tell us, does our M look like the Marlboro M ?

E-Cigarettes have become a popular option to smoking regular cigarettes. They claim to not have the thousands of chemicals and hundreds of carcinogens that are added to cigarettes. The e-liquid nicotine that is in question is the solution that is used to refill the e-cigarette. It provides the smokers with the taste, nicotine and sensations of smoking, but without the tar nor carcinogens.

The tobacco giant has recently been in negotiations with Ruyan, a large e-cigarette manufacturer in China. Only speculations can be made at this point as nothing has been disclosed. As the only real potential competition to cigarettes to come along in years, perhaps ever, it’s well known the electronic cigarette industry has the attention of big tobacco. In this case, a small manufacturer based in Colorado, E-CigaretteDirect.com and Veppocig.com.

A lawsuit has been filed against E-CigaretteDirect, LLC in the North Carolina Middle District Court.

About E-CigaretteDirect: E-CigaretteDirect.com has gained a reputation of being the most trustworthy and reliable retailer of electronic cigarettes, e-liquid nicotine and electronic cigars on the web. We give smokers an alternative to inhaling thousands of chemicals. For more e-cigarette information, visit the site at http://www.e-cigarettedirect.com/

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