According to a report by Law360 on December 23, Altria Group subsidiary NJOY LLC. has won a lawsuit against the e-cigarette brand ELFBAR.
Federal Judge Cynthia Bashant in California has issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting four California retail entities from selling any ELFBAR products.
Judge Basyan stated that the ban was in the public interest as it would "uphold the law." The state enacted a law in 2020 prohibiting flavored tobacco products.
Retailers have requested the judge not to issue the injunction, arguing that ELFBAR is just one of many flavored e-cigarettes on the market. They believe that consumers will instead turn to other brands like Hyde, Esco Bar, Puff Bar, and Hyppe before trying NJOY's tobacco-flavored e-cigarette.
The brand representatives of ELFBAR, iMiracle (HK) Ltd. and Shenzhen Imiracle Technology Co Ltd., stated that it is unrealistic to assume that flavored e-cigarette users will switch to NJOY's products, much like how people who love grape juice would switch to drinking kale juice if their favorite brand is no longer available.
Judge Basante stated that this is "not convincing." She believes that NJOY provided enough evidence to prove that their sales were affected due to ELFBAR supplying e-cigarettes to stores. NJOY claimed in the lawsuit that iMiracle and retailers were illegally selling flavored e-cigarettes not approved by the US FDA, violating California's ban on flavored tobacco products.
NJOY states that they are at a competitive disadvantage because consumers are choosing to purchase ELFBAR products instead of NJOY's legal tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes. NJOY claims to be the only e-cigarette device manufacturer authorized by the FDA, with their NJOY ACE device receiving FDA PMTA in July of this year.
The current lawsuit is at least the second lawsuit filed by NJOY in the California federal court. A previous lawsuit filed in October 2023 has already been voluntarily dismissed by the company.
The previous lawsuit was more ambitious, as NJOY attempted to implement a nationwide ban on several popular flavored e-cigarette brands, while the current lawsuit is only targeting the sales of ELFBAR in California.
Four California retailers, including Aroma Avenue Vape Shop, Cigarettes N More, Cloudhaven Vapors, Inc., and Z Vapor Room, have been ordered to stop selling the ELFBAR e-cigarette.
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