Jump to full article: Reuters, 2009-06-16
Intro: A U.S. jury in Maryland ruled on Tuesday against tobacco company Star Scientific Inc in its lawsuit with Reynolds American Inc over a patent dispute on reducing cancer-causing elements in tobacco.
Shares of Star Scientific plummeted more than 80 percent in after-hours trading while shares for Reynolds gained 2.39 percent.
Star Scientific sued RJ Reynolds, a subsidiary of Reynolds American, in 2001, alleging patent infringement over a technology invented by Star Chief Executive Jonnie Williams. The technology comes from work he began in 1996 on a tobacco curing process that would inhibit "microbial nitrate reductase activity," which can lead to cancer-causing nitrosamines in tobacco.
In June 2007, a Maryland district judge ruled that Star's patents were unenforceable because of the way in which the company applied for the patent.
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