The European Patent Office ruled that Philip Morris International retained a patent on its vape power supply system, overruling an objection by Nicoventures, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco. The agency found that PMI’s patented design had a unique structure and that Nicoventures failed to demonstrate that its product “Vuse Solo” had been made public before the patent application.
Key points:
1. The European Patent Office ruled that Philip Morris International (PMI) retained the patent for the vape power supply system.
2. Nicoventures, a British American Tobacco subsidiary, claimed that the PMI patent covered old technology, but the claim was rejected.
3. The European Patent Office claims that PMI products have a unique structural design.
European Patent Office rejects British American Tobacco’s objection:
According to Tobaccoreporter on March 6, Nicoventures, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT), filed an objection to a vape patent by Philip Morris International (PMI), but it was rejected by the European Patent Office, which allowed PMI to keep the patent.
The patent mainly describes a power supply system for an electronic cigarette device, including sensors and sensor brackets for regulating airflow and housing the power supply.
Fillmore International e-cigarette power supply system patents to be retained
Nicoventures claims that the patent is not new, as its “Vuse Solo” product already applies similar features in three old patents. BAT says there are also components in these old patents that are functionally similar to PMI sensor mounts.
The European Patent Office’s Board of Appeal, in a Feb 20 decision published on Friday, upheld an earlier ruling, rejecting Nicoventures’ objections because PMI’s power supply design has a unique structure.
The Technical Appeal Council said it agreed with PMI that the structure of the vape device in the old invention was not the same as the patent.
In addition. PMI further noted that Nicoventures could not prove that “Vuse Solo” was known to the public before the patent application, and therefore Nicoventures could not argue that its design was “not novel.”
Nicoventures was founded by British American Tobacco in 2010 to focus on the development and commercialization of regulatory-approved non-tobacco nicotine products.
