Round Goes to Reynolds

Jury rules in favor of RJR over Star Scientific in patent suit; Star to stay in ring Jun. 18, 2009

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said it is "very pleased" with yesterday's jury verdict in favor of the company in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Star Scientific Inc. in the U.S. District Court for Maryland, Northern Division, in Baltimore. The jury ruled the patents in question, involving a method of treating tobacco to substantially prevent the formation of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), were invalid and not infringed.

"Certainly, we are pleased with the jury's decision," said August Borschke, chief patent counsel for R.J. Reynolds, Winston-Salem, [image-nocss] N.C. "The jury carefully evaluated all of the evidence presented and came to the right conclusion. They saw what we have known all along, that Star's patents are invalid, and they should not have been issued in the first place. The jury also confirmed R.J. Reynolds did not infringe Star's patents in any event."

Petersburg, Va.-based Star Scientific Inc. said, "Our counsel will file a motion with the U.S. District Court for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial within the next 10 days. If that motion is not granted, our appellate counsel then will file a notice of our intent to appeal the verdict with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as soon as practically possible."

Star filed the suit on May 23, 2001, and sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for alleged past infringement and an injunction going forward to prevent future infringement.

In March, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, clearing the way for the trial that led to Tuesday's verdict, added an Associated Press report.

In addition to seeking a large jury award, Star was hoping to reach lucrative licensing agreements with other tobacco companies, said The Wall Street Journal.

Star Scientific is a technology-oriented tobacco company with a toxin reduction mission. It is engaged in the development of dissolvable smokeless tobacco products that deliver fewer carcinogenic toxins (principally tobacco specific nitrosamines, or TSNAs), through the use of the iStarCured tobacco curing technology, and in sublicensing that technology to others.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. R.J. Reynolds is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States, manufacturing about one of every three cigarettes sold in the United States, it said. R.J. Reynolds' product line includes five of the nation's 10 best-selling cigarette brands: Camel, Pall Mall, Winston, Kool and Doral.

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