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By Blake Brittain
(Reuters) -A U.S. trade tribunal sided with Juul Labs on Wednesday and ordered a ban on imports of vaping devices and cartridges made by Altria's NJOY - at least some of which are made in China and Malaysia - in a patent dispute over e-cigarette technology.
The U.S. International Trade Commission found that NJOY's ACE devices violated Juul's patent rights in vaporizer innovations. As a result, an import ban will take effect in 60 days unless the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in President Donald Trump's new administration overturns it for public policy reasons.
Spokespeople for Altria did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision. Juul's chief legal officer Tyler Mace said the company was pleased with the decision to "protect our U.S.-developed innovations against those who seek to import copycat products, principally from China."
Richmond, Virginia-based Altria once held a 35% stake in Juul, which it purchased for $12.8 billion in 2018. Altria exited the agreement in 2023, shortly before announcing its acquisition of NJOY for around $2.75 billion.
Washington, D.C.-based Juul then sued Altria for patent infringement at the ITC in 2023. Altria countered with an ITC patent complaint against Juul later that year over its devices and pods. That case is still ongoing.
An ITC judge preliminarily determined in August that Altria's devices infringed Juul's patents and should be banned. The full commission affirmed the decision on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario, Will Dunham, Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
