Hong Kong-listed patent owner Dragonite International is hoping to secure its hold on the estimated US$500 million global market for electronic cigarettes by suing potential infringers in the United States.
Dragonite International, formerly Ruyan Group (Holdings), intends to take legal action against all the major e-cigarette manufacturers and distributors in the US.
The company has won a number of patent infringement cases on the mainland, but a victory in US courts for Dragonite International would probably bolster its claim on the burgeoning e-cigarette market.
The smokeless e-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that vaporise a liquid nicotine solution. They work by emitting a puff, or fine mist, of nicotine, which is inhaled by the user. They are mostly made on the mainland.
Legal action by Dragonite, which is expected to begin in Los Angeles tomorrow, would probably serve as a litmus test for the protection of patents based on Chinese innovations.
'The lack of protection of intellectual property rights in China has permitted a deluge of illicit and poorly manufactured Chinese-made e-cigarettes to export markets,' Dragonite International executive director Angela Ching said.
'The confusion [over] the safety of these products has delayed the development of this otherwise breakthrough [one], which holds the potential to reduce global smoking-related health costs by hundreds of billions of US dollars.'
