According to a report by N.News on January 6th, it has been reported by industry sources that South Korean tobacco company KT&G has initiated a second round of legal proceedings against former partner EM-Tech regarding the patent for their heated tobacco device "Lil". In October 2024, KT&G lost the first round of a patent transfer lawsuit and subsequently filed an appeal in November.
KT&G has stated that after a legal review, they have decided to file this appeal in order to reclaim the company's legal rights to its intellectual property.
In the first trial, the 61st Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of EM-Tech Company on all six requests for patent transfer. The court determined that EM-Tech Company had already delivered service outcomes involving the patents to KT&G before signing the contract, therefore the patent inventions should be considered as technology that EM-Tech Company had before the contract.
In late 2016 to 2018, EM-Tech signed an Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) collaboration contract with KT&G for the development and production of "Lil." In 2020, EM-Tech established a subsidiary to advance patent registration and production related to e-cigarettes. KT&G claims that EM-Tech registered patents without authorization, leading to a legal dispute.
KT&G argues that during the period of the cooperation agreement, any content related to e-cigarettes shared between the two parties should be owned by KT&G, therefore, they have filed a lawsuit to reclaim patents registered by EM-Tech. The patents in question include a combination structure of e-liquid cartridge heater, an atomizer for an electrically heated aerosol generator, a particulate generation device, an electrically heated aerosol generator, and an e-liquid cartridge component for a particulate generation device.
In response to the appeal from KT&G company, EM-Tech company stated that it will take necessary countermeasures to protect its own intellectual property rights.
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