phillip morris/ruyan negotiations?

[halfevildruid]

OfficialWire: Philip Morris In Negotiations With Original E-Cigarette Company

[LaceyUnderall]

ecigarettesnational sure did hit the big one with this marketing piece!

Their website traffic must be up 500%!

[doots]

might not be a bad thing as PM ha the money for testing to prove or not that ecigs are not bad for you!

[Ionredline]

But it also means prices and taxes on them will go through the roof.You know PM will try to shut down all competitive e-cig manufacturers also.They will get their foot in the door and then corner the market as they have done with analogs.

[Fodder4U]

Originally Posted by Ionredline

But it also means prices and taxes on them will go through the roof.You know PM will try to shut down all competitive e-cig manufacturers also.They will get their foot in the door and then corner the market as they have done with analogs.

True but it was bound to happen sooner or later as e-cigs got more popular.

[jerrydon10]

Originally Posted by Ionredline

But it also means prices and taxes on them will go through the roof.You know PM will try to shut down all competitive e-cig manufacturers also.They will get their foot in the door and then corner the market as they have done with analogs.

Or they might just stop producing them to get us back on analogs. In any of these scenarios guess who loses: us.

[Ionredline]

Of course, Ruyan is not stupid.They exist to make money like any company.Combining with PM is a good way to that end and nobody can argue that fact.

[Vaporista]

Well PM is up to new strategy. They just bought out Swedish Match LTD South Africa (subject to competition commission approvals the sale should be final soon). Swedish match Sweden owns the General Snus brand and Cohiba brands. Swedish Match SA owns several mass market cheap roll your own tobacco brands including Boxer. I think that since 95% of the South African tobacco market is controlled by British American Tobacco Company this is a strategic move by PM to join forces with the Swedish Match Mothership and enter the smokeless products market. Someone mentioned somwhere I think it was a snus blog that PM was possibly exploring an exclusive Cohiba branded snus in anticipation of the Cuban embargo falling away soon. They would be exploring the e-cig. It fits in with their new strategy and if the e-cig doesn't work they will always have their snus.

[Bill Godshall]

There could be huge public health benefits worldwide if PMI buys Ruyan or its e-cigarette patents (as PMI has contracts with hundreds of thousands of retailers, and has could place the products alongside Marlboro cigarettes in most favorable store locations). PMI also has badly needed lobbying clout to oppose e-cigarette bans, unwarranted regulations and taxes.

The potential downside is that PMI likely would aggressively litigate against other e-cigarette manufacturers/vendors claiming patent infringement. Unlike Ruyan (which has settled patent infringement cases for relatively small amounts of money), PMI has a lot more lawyers and a lot more money.

It is important to note that PMI does not operate in the US, nor does Ruyan Group, as both operate abroad. Rather PM USA and Ruyan America operate in America.

I've also heard that there's an ongoing struggle between Ruyan Group and Ruyan America (which could be related to the reported negotiations with PMI).

Regarding taxation of e-cigarettes, any effort to impose excise taxes on e-cigarettes provides another opportunity to educate elected officials of the comparable health risks and benefits of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Smokefree Pennsylvania has been advocating significantly lower excise taxes for smokeless tobacco products than for cigarettes (because similar to e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco is far far less hazardous than cigarettes). PA is the only state that doesn't tax smokeless tobacco products.

We'd do the same if/when e-cigarettes are regulated as tobacco product, and if/when CTFK, ACS, AHA, ALA would campaign for high taxes on e-cigarettes (as they've been advocating the same tax rate for smokeless tobacco as for cigarettes).

[LaceyUnderall]

Originally Posted by Bill Godshall

There could be huge public health benefits worldwide if PMI buys Ruyan or its e-cigarette patents (as PMI has contracts with hundreds of thousands of retailers, and has could place the products alongside Marlboro cigarettes in most favorable store locations). PMI also has badly needed lobbying clout to oppose e-cigarette bans, unwarranted regulations and taxes.

The potential downside is that PMI likely would aggressively litigate against other e-cigarette manufacturers/vendors claiming patent infringement. Unlike Ruyan (which has settled patent infringement cases for relatively small amounts of money), PMI has a lot more lawyers and a lot more money.

It is important to note that PMI does not operate in the US, nor does Ruyan Group, as both operate abroad. Rather PM USA and Ruyan America operate in America.

I've also heard that there's an ongoing struggle between Ruyan Group and Ruyan America (which could be related to the reported negotiations with PMI).

Regarding taxation of e-cigarettes, any effort to impose excise taxes on e-cigarettes provides another opportunity to educate elected officials of the comparable health risks and benefits of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Smokefree Pennsylvania has been advocating significantly lower excise taxes for smokeless tobacco products than for cigarettes (because similar to e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco is far far less hazardous than cigarettes). PA is the only state that doesn't tax smokeless tobacco products.

We'd do the same if/when e-cigarettes are regulated as tobacco product, and if/when CTFK, ACS, AHA, ALA would campaign for high taxes on e-cigarettes (as they've been advocating the same tax rate for smokeless tobacco as for cigarettes).

Bill - So what is your take on the idea that PMI is lobbying the European Union to regulate the electronic cigarette as an NRT?