Lorillard purchases Blu E-Cigs

[Neloish]

I think that this is going to be a tipping point in the history of E cigs. It could go many ways, but with BT entering the game you can be sure that something is going to happen. On possabiliy is BT could enprove Blu and put its marketing power behind it, thier is no law(that I know of) against marketing ecigs. If BT is smart they will hire people who know about ecigs to be consultants to help them get it right. They could also let it stagnate and die.

I wonder if one of the senior member could try to contact them, and help them make the right decisions.

 

[Myk]

So, there has to be an alterior motive, here. I mean, from everything I've read and all the reviews I've watched, Blu tends to be one of the most disappointing ecigs out there. I bet they put a lot of funds into marketing it to Joe Public, who quickly determines that ecigs are a joke, being that this would be the most advertised/known product, and returns to smoking analogs.

Why else would they buy out such a disappointing product?

My nephew didn't mind his Blu but I think it ended up costing too much so when it died it wasn't worth replacing the kit. Considering they're a PCC to take care of the battery life issue of that class and they use a LR carto and a quality juice I don't think they're that bad (never having used one).
The people that use them are often trying to find a replacement for the flavor they get.

If this works for Lorillard I'd look for BT to step into the market with something along the lines of a Joyetech eGo where they're obviously listening to the modders and trying to give people what they want. If that happens we'll be able to get juice at the local tobacco store.

 

[Alaricnj]

This is very interesting news, but as many have already stated I'm not surprised. However small business owners in the PV and E-liquid areas should stay on top on the future developments. Now that one BT company has taken the leap, i'm sure the rest will follow, or have already started internal R&D.

I foresee pricing increasing over time and regulations imposed (not necessarily a bad thing, but...). This is one of the issues i have with corporate America, it sounds good at first but then years later your .....ing to the company about your lost order with some c/s rep in India who doesn't speak English. I've found that dealing with small USA business owners has really been a pleasure. I really hope this new development does not changes things too much.

 

[gtianz]

We will have to see how Lorillard approaches this before we will even have a clue which direction this might go.

I will try to make this my "glass half full" mantra regarding this acquisition.

 

[BuzzKill]

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no
responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or
completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or
in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.
Dragonite International Limited

(incorporated in the Cayman Islands with limited liability)
(Stock Code: 329)
VOLUNTARY ANNOUNCEMENT
This is a voluntary announcement made by Dragonite International Limited (the
“Company, together with its subsidiaries referred to as the “Group”). The purpose of
this announcement is to keep the Shareholders and potential investors of the
Company informed of the latest developments of the Company. Unless the context
requires otherwise, capitalised terms used herein shall have the same meanings as
those defined in the announcement of the Company dated 1 August 2011.
GRANT OF NEW US PATENT — US PATENT NO. 8156944
The board of directors of the Company (the “Board”) is pleased to announce that on
17 April 2012, the Group’s patent for the “Aerosol Electronic Cigarette” has been
successfully issued in the United States by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office as United States Patent No. 8156944, (the “944 Patent”) to Mr. Hon Lik,
inventor of the electronic cigarette, executive director of the Company, and has been
assigned in favour of Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited, a wholly owned
subsidiary of the Company. The 944 Patent embodies novel technologies of the
electronic cigarette and is an important addition to the Group’s intellectual property
portfolio. The 994 Patent is expected to facilitate new supply agreements with
distributors in the near future.
— 1 —
COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT — US PATENT NO. 7832410
Reference is made to the Company’s voluntary announcements dated 13 January
2011, 28 January 2011 and 1 August 2011. The 2nd Complaint (Case No. 11-6268),
filed on 29 July 2011, has been consolidated with the Amended Complaint (Case No.
11-367) for discovery and claim construction purposes. Of the total 11 defendants,
three have defaulted, namely, Smoking Everywhere Inc, Instead LLC and Load and
Fold dba Magic Puffer, and two (Jeffrey Orth dba Janty USA and Janty USA, LLC)
have consented to judgment in favour of Ruyan Investment (Holdings) Limited, the
Plaintiff.
The Board is also pleased to announce that the Plaintiff has executed a settlement
agreement with defendant BLEC, LLC which provides for the payment of monetary
compensation to the Plaintiff. A request for dismissal without prejudice of defendant
BLEC, LLC from the case will be filed in due course.
The Company will keep the Shareholders and potential investors of the Company
informed of any material development in connection with the complaint herein
mentioned by way of further announcement(s) as and when appropriate.
By order of the Board
Dragonite International Limited
Gary Drew Douglas
Managing Director
Hong Kong, 18 April 2012
As at the date of this announcement, the Board comprises the following Directors:
Executive Directors
Mr. Wong Yin Sen (Chairman)
Mr. Gary Drew Douglas (Managing Director)
Mr. Hon Lik
Ms. Chan Mee Sze
Mr. Lam Suk Ping
Independent Non-executive Directors
Mr. Chung Yuk Lun
Mr. Liu Kwong Sang
Mr. Lam Man Sum, Albert
Mr. Ho Tak Fun
— 2 —

 

[gtianz]

Funny how right after Dragonite has the press release about licensing BLU gets bought ??

Here comes the KENT Ecig.

Humm Maybe a VV version in the future ???

I know that you have a patent pending (for your vary-voltage circuitry?).

I'll be curious to know when/if you get contacted by one of the BT corps.

(I'm still happy to do some photography for you guys if it'll help your company.... just pm me)

 

[erictho]

i've read this entire thing and it's been a good read. thanks, everyone.
all that i would feel necessary to say has already been said very well many times over. while i am a little sketched out by the purchase as long as enough people favor small(er) businesses i'm sure enough of them can weather the storm. i'm sure everyone knows of specialty tobacco shops in their area. as long as there are enthusiasts, i feel confident they'll be able to stay afloat.

 

[zapped]

Lorillard isnt the only one.I posted this in another forum but have yet to post here.

Im a former vendor and also a study participant at the Consumer Opinion Center located in Richmond Va and funded by Altria/Phillip Morris.Its been a good way to make some extra cash while I was a smoker and Ive been on their email list for new study opportunities for a couple of years now.Two weeks ago they sent me an email saying they were doing a 3 month long study involving a new e-cigarette product.I tried to get into the study but by the time I contacted them 12 hours later all the slots were filled so unfortunately I cant give you any more info on this.

The study paid 300-400 dollars and Im guessing that since the email was sent to smokers its not really representative of how many e-cigarette users there are in Richmond Va, especially considering how fast the study filled up.Id say the majority of the people who signed up probably bought a cheap Enjoy e-cigarette from a convenience store for 20 bucks just so they could make some cash.

No doubt about it, big cig is starting to see a decline in their revenue from the popularity of electronic cigarettes and mods and is gonna be joining the fray real soon.

My biggest concern is what a mega-corporation with billions of dollars and teams of lawyers at their disposal can do to hurt this industry like pushing for all e-juice to conform to f.d.a standards and be manufactured in a lab.Or putting the smaller vendors out of business by charrging next-to-nothing for their products only so they can raise prices after a couple of years and corner the market.

Pasted this from response in another thread because I wanted to make sure Casaa sees it.

 

[panachronic]

Now that BT has entered the fray in a big way I expect that BP is next. Sometime in the next 120 days a pharma company will announce the initiation of clinical trials with a vaporizing NRT with the capability of measuring and monitoring nicotine content on a "per puff" basis.

Oh man, I hope you are wrong about this!!!

If this happens, the FDA will be back in the middle of things, and in a very big way. Nothing good can come from that.

 

[panachronic]

Perhaps because Blu already has a large presence in convenience stores and large gas-station chains. They don't have to hire a whole new sales force. These products already are being sold where tobacco products are being sold.

Blu is already sold at Walmart, is it not? That had to be a huge factor.

 

[gtianz]

Now that BT has entered the fray in a big way I expect that BP is next. Sometime in the next 120 days a pharma company will announce the initiation of clinical trials with a vaporizing NRT with the capability of measuring and monitoring nicotine content on a "per puff" basis.

and there is no doubt that these tests would be conducted with the highest possible concentrations of nicotine.....the 36mg varieties.

 

[Trilly]

All I can say is the rest of the worlds vaping community will be watching and wondering.

 

[timinmich]

As it has already been said, there is no way to know where this is going. I however will opt to stay optomistic.

 

[morri]

I, too choose to be optomistic, and ignore that tight little icky feeling in my tummy.

 

[nuggetz]

I don't see why they would have to buy blu to be competitive. I don't know anyone who is still vaping blu that started with Blu. I bet Johnson Creek knew this was coming as they're developing an ecig of their own.

 

[Petrodus]

I, too choose to be optimistic, and ignore that tight little icky feeling in my tummy.

That little "icky feeling" in your tummy ...
might be because you're unsure if your favorite PV, Supplies, and E-juice
will be available in the near future.


Your not alone ...
Many of us have that little "icky feeling"

 

[RockinRay]

That little "icky feeling" in your tummy ...
might be because you're unsure if your favorite PV, Supplies, and E-juice
will be available in the near future.


Your not alone ...
Many of us have that little "icky feeling"

+1 -

I would hope that now that this has happened, they will make the "smart" move and do things right. IF they do, there is an excellent marketing opportunity for them.

But then again, what do I know!

 

[TomCatt]

Cigarette maker Lorillard 1Q profit falls - BusinessWeek

With Wednesday's announcement of its acquisition of Blu Ecigs, Lorillard joins several other tobacco companies that have announced similar initiatives to seek cigarette alternatives as demand declines. Lorillard said Blu Ecigs, based in Charlotte, N.C., will remain a separate operating company.

 

[AttyPops]

Well, I've posted some other thoughts in a different thread, so I'll not repeat them here. I did, however, think more about the whole e-juice issue. I'm also a (humble) modder, so I often think about these things from the e-juice perspective more than the hardware perspective (since I can make my own hardware). I really can't make my own quality e-juice nic-base, even though I DIY my mix.

Thus, I anticipate a fight in the marketplace for the juice. The hardware will change over time. One revision after another. Battery tech, etc. will drive it. Sure, they will probably have proprietary chargers and connectors and such. I don't personally care if my "pack" lights up if another vaper is nearby. lol. I care about two main things: e-juice base, and atomizers (and I can get into making atties if I really need to... don't want to tho).

So... here's what I predict will happen. I hope I'm wrong. Imported nic base will soon become outlawed (BT, BP will be excepted as they need to get raw materials since they are resellers). Only USA made nic-base will be allowed. Cries of "It's antifreeze!" will resonate through the halls of justice. BT will produce all their stuff in the little pre-filled cart-packs, and get a lock on the nic-base within the country. More $$ for them. The cart-packs are branded just like cigs were. We DIYers are screwed.

I really don't care about flavoring issues... I add my own anyway. Let it all be unflavored for all I care. However, access to a high-quality, reasonable cost nic-base must be protected through this whole process. That's what I worry about. If that is protected, there's still a market for e-juice vendors to compete in. Without it we're at the mercy of a few companies (BT, ?BP?) producing pre-filled carts. Blech!

Hope I'm wrong. Hope congress protects nicotine base (and ordering via mail, or wide-spread distribution). We will see.

 

[rolygate]

I would hope that now that this has happened, they will make the "smart" move and do things right. IF they do, there is an excellent marketing opportunity for them.

The job of any business is to maximise profit and crush competitors. The acquisition of Blu by Lorillard is one of those things that has pros and cons:

- Ecigs being sold by a major corporation means that some of the outright lies about ecigs will need to be toned down or the people publishing the propaganda will get taken to court. Lorillard have an unlimited amount of money to take on attackers with, and won't stand for lies being printed about ecigs if it might affect their own sales.

- Going mainstream like this means the public will now get a whole new perspective on the product: the fad, scam, and 'it probably doesn't work' days are coming to a close; but so might the cottage industry days.

- But: the job of a corporate is to crush opponents and take more market share. They couldn't care less about who survives or goes under, that's your problem not theirs. The more competitors who die off the better.

- They will work with government agencies to promote legislation that removes competitors. That is one of the main marketing strategies of the pharmaceutical industry and it works extremely well. Pharma uses front groups, high volume propaganda and suborning of officials to get legislation that removes competitors, so the methodology will be slightly different (no front groups); but Lorillard will work with the FDA to eliminate other players if they can. As Blu (and any new Lorillard ecigs such as Newport) will major on prefilled cartos, they will support legislation that removes liquids, flavors etc.

- As Lorillard are a main street retail-based business, the removal of internet sales (a possible avenue for an FDA attack on ecigs) will not be a major blow to them. If Blu are sold everywhere/anywhere then killing off web rivals would be a good move. They'd take a hit of course but it would hurt competitors far more. This is something that won't happen for at least 3 years but is on the cards. It will be hard for the FDA to introduce it, but is always a possibility - especially if some big players like Lorillard are helping in the background. $5m of 'encouragement funds' goes a long way in Washington and is peanuts to Lorillard.