http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/org/rjr.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_10391971?source=rss http://tobacco.org/news/270736.html Republican Mel Brown, who holds the 53rd District seat, and his Democratic opponent in November, Kathy Lofft, have filed campaign finance statements with state election officials showing Lofft has raised and spent more money than Brown has. . . . Brown, who is a well-connected legislator who served in the House in another district before winning the local seat, has secured money from the gun-rights lobby, big tobacco and labor interests, among others. None of his donors are individuals. The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund gave $500, the parent of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company gave $250 and EnergySolutions, the nuclear waste company, provided Brown with $250. . . . "No I haven't done anything special for them," Brown said about his campaign donors, describing that the corporate interests represent the "free market, free enterprise." The Park Record citynews@parkrecord.com (Jay Hamburger OF THE RECORD STAFF) Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions/07-1448.pdf http://tobacco.org/news/270428.html ? CONCLUSION For the reasons provided above, we reverse the district court's judgment of unenforceability of both asserted patents due to inequitable conduct. We also reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment of invalidity of all asserted claims due to indefiniteness and remand for further proceedings on the infringement complaint consistent with this opinion. REVERSED and REMANDED United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-08-26-0125.html http://tobacco.org/news/270419.html A Petersburg-based company has won an appeal in a lengthy legal battle with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. over patents covering a process to reduce some cancer-causing toxins in tobacco. The ruling yesterday by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit in Washington means the lawsuit brought by Star Scientific Inc. against the nation's second-largest cigarette maker is likely to go to trial, a Reynolds spokesman said. Star, which sells smokeless tobacco products, sought millions of dollars in damages in the lawsuit, filed in 2001. It claimed that Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds had infringed Star's patents for a method designed to reduce carcinogens called tobacco-specific nitrosamines, which form during the curing of tobacco leaves. The appeals court yesterday overturned a lower-court ruling in 2007 that declared the patents invalid. The appeals court sent the case back to U.S. District Court in Maryland. Richmond Times-Dispatch jblackwell@timesdispatch.com (JOHN REID BLACKWELL TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER) Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/NEWS02/808270317 http://tobacco.org/news/270404.html A lawsuit challenging claims by tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds that its Eclipse cigarette is healthier to smoke than the average cigarette can go forward, a Vermont judge has ruled. Chittenden Superior Court Judge Dennis Pearson, in an 18-page ruling, denied R.J. Reynolds' request to dismiss outright the case filed by the Vermont Attorney General's Office on behalf of Vermont and 35 other states. "The state is generally entitled to present its case on the evidence ... with regard to the existence (or not) of reasonable substantiation supporting R.J Reynolds's health claims regarding Eclipse," Pearson wrote in his Aug. 19 decision. Pearson also rejected all but one of nine other pre-trial motions filed by R.J. Reynolds regarding what evidence and witnesses could be used at the trial, scheduled to begin Oct. 5. Burlington Free Press shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com (Sam Hemingway * Free Press Staff Writer) Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aGR3HnBY.x1M http://tobacco.org/news/270383.html Star Scientific Inc. rose the most in seven years after a U.S. appeals court revived the company's patent lawsuit against Reynolds American Inc.'s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco over a formula for reducing carcinogens in tobacco. Star climbed $1.09, or 65 percent, to $2.76 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, valuing the Petersburg, Virginia-based company at $254 million. The gain was the biggest since April 2001 and the closing price was the highest since Jan. 18, 2007. More than 7.25 million shares changed hands, 20 times the three-month daily average. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled today that a judge was wrong to find two Star patents unenforceable and invalid, saying the decision was ``based on factual findings that we deem clearly erroneous.'' The panel sent the case back for review to determine whether the patents are infringed or invalid on other grounds. Bloomberg News sdecker1@bloomberg.net (Susan Decker and William McQuillen) Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080810/NEWS08/867845174 http://tobacco.org/news/270247.html All day, I was nervous about the nicotine and tar. The “Green Monster,” as they know it, is nicotine poisoning ingested through the skin. I was lucky to find some light gloves with grips on them. They’ll get wet but at least there would be a shield from the tar and nicotine. . . . The final tally on my body was the rash on my arms and lower legs and ankles, four blisters on my right hand, sunburn on my nose, face, and lips, and swollen hands that were numb. . . . God put on my heart to call the only pastor I knew who might come and help me do this and come to bless the men and their families. The Rev. Nelson Johnson had been meeting with the RJ Reynolds Co. to advocate a dialogue between FLOC and the company, and after several meetings, the company continues to avoid any responsibility for the production of their tobacco. . . . He spoke out his heart to God, recalling the many African-Americans who toiled in these same fields, like himself as a youth, the blessing of the workers’ families in Mexico, the success of their work, that the hearts of many would be reached to lift up the yoke of oppression of all tobacco workers, and that there might be unity among brown, blacks, and whites in this endeavor. Toledo Blade Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080810/NEWS08/813995444/-1/ARCHIVES30 http://tobacco.org/news/270246.html Worst of all, it was barely 8 a.m. There were still nearly 10 hours of tobacco picking ahead in the humidity-drenched fields of North Carolina, which leads the nation in heat-related farm worker deaths. And so began a typical day for the 61-year-old labor organizer during his week-long visit to a tobacco farm that concluded Aug. 4 with a return home to Sylvania Township. In essence, his trip was a fact-finding mission, one that involved as much participation as observation. Mr. Velásquez lived and worked alongside a group of about 14 migrant workers, picking tobacco plants at the most brutal time of the year. . . . “My feeling is that if I’m going to represent somebody, I better do the work that they’re doing to know what they’re going through,” he said last week upon his return. The work in the fields was utterly exhausting. . . . The founder and president of the Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Mr. Velásquez is focusing on securing improvement in pay, benefits, and working conditions for the thousands of temporary guest workers who journey to the United States for seasonal jobs in tobacco fields. He would not disclose his location in North Carolina, citing concerns about growers’ relationships with RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. The majority of tobacco field workers in North Carolina have their permanent homes in Mexico. Some are employed there legally for the growing season through the U.S. government’s H2-A agricultural work visa program. But many others are undocumented. Depending on the farm they’re at, they are paid from $50 to $150 a day, according to Mr. Velásquez. .. . . In his view, tobacco workers struggle at the bottom of a three-tiered production chain that’s presided over by agricultural corporations such as RJ Reynolds, a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. Second to corporations are the growers, whom he describes as being at the financial mercy of the corporations that buy their crops. Mr. Velásquez said his immediate goal is to get RJ Reynolds to agree to three-way labor talks between FLOC and farmers from tobacco states such as North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and South Carolina. Toledo Blade jcreindl@theblade.com (JC REINDL / BLADE STAFF WRITER ) Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002938163&cpage=2 http://tobacco.org/news/270143.html Sen. Richard M. Burr , R-N.C., has promised to drag out debate, offer amendments, and do whatever he can to ensure “a full and lengthy debate and lengthy amendment process,” should the bill (HR 1108) come to the floor. . . . In addition to his threats to run out the clock and offer amendments, he was waged a more public campaign to argue that the FDA is not the proper venue for tobacco regulation. Burr has previously argued that cigarette content might more logically be regulated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and packaging and labeling might be placed under the purview of the Federal Trade Commission. . . . “You can’t represent North Carolina and say regulation of tobacco is not important,” said Burr, when questioned about the reasons for his opposition to the bill. “I haven’t opposed regulation of tobacco, I’ve just opposed putting it at the FDA,” he added. Burr said the state’s tobacco industry “is not as dominant a manufacturing base as it once was.” . . . Neither company has given large donations directly to Burr’s campaign, but have instead sent contributions to his leadership committee, the Next Century Fund. Reynolds’ political action committee gave $10,000 in the current election cycle, and Lorillard $5,000, according to data from CQ MoneyLine. Congressional Quarterly Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080805/NEWS/80805028/1001/NEWS http://tobacco.org/news/269737.html The fight this time: whether R.J. Reynolds Co. can back up marketing claims about its Eclipse cigarette, which it says is safer than the average smoke and "may produce less risk of cancer." The case, unfolding at Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington, pits the Vermont Attorney General's Office against the tobacco giant. The Vermont litigation is being watched and supported by 36 states. Burlington Free Press Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080806/reynolds_american_lobbying.html?.v=1 http://tobacco.org/news/269730.html -- Cigarette company Reynolds American Inc. spent $615,715 in the second quarter to lobby on anti-smoking programs and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report. The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company also lobbied the federal government on other tobacco-related legislation that involves the labeling and mailing of cigarettes. AP Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080806/nc_reynolds_review.html?.v=1 http://tobacco.org/news/269634.html A review of business practices at Reynolds American's headquarters and at its top subsidiary, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., could lead to cuts of salaried employees, a newspaper reported Wednesday. The review was announced to employees Tuesday and is expected to be finished by Sept. 30, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. Reynolds American communications director Jan Smith says officials won't know how many jobs might be affected until the review is completed. Smith says workers were told to notify the company by Friday if they are interested in leaving voluntarily with a severance package. AP Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080806/NEWS02/808060310 http://tobacco.org/news/269630.html The fight this time: whether R.J. Reynolds Co. can back up marketing claims about its Eclipse cigarette, which it says is safer than the average smoke and "may produce less risk of cancer." The case, unfolding at Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington, pits the Vermont Attorney General's Office against the tobacco giant. The Vermont litigation is being watched and supported by 36 states. No financial damages are being sought. Instead, Vermont is alleging the claims about Eclipse are not supported by scientific evidence and is asking for an injunction to put a stop to the advertising campaign. According to R.J Reynolds, the Eclipse advertising claims are true and Vermont is out of line for trying to use its consumer fraud act to take on a battle that ought to be addressed under the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act. Burlington Free Press shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com (Sam Hemingway * Free Press Staff Writer ) Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://seekingalpha.com/article/88842-reynolds-american-6-yield-shows-commitment-to-shareholders?source=yahoo http://tobacco.org/news/269629.html Reynolds American (RAI), the second biggest cigarette manufacturer in the United States, presents an opportunity for the discerning investor. While the legal pressures facing the tobacco industry have receded modestly, this positive development has been more than overshadowed by the specter of the FDA oversight bill Congress is reviewing. This bill would allow the FDA to regulate cigarette composition (with several exceptions) and would serve to solidify rival Phillip Morris USA's dominant position in the US market. It appears the bill is dead for the foreseeable future, as a vowed filibuster by Senate Republicans and a threatened Presidential veto thwart its advance for the near-term. . . . All said, RAI is a company with solid future prospects. Management's demonstrably shareholder-friendly approach, the soundness of long-term plans put forth by executives and the considerable liquidity generated by operations all bode well for the prudent investor. However, it is important to note that uncertainty hanging over tobacco companies engendered by lawsuits will not dissipate in the foreseeable future. Seeking Alpha blog network advertising@seekingalpha.com (Sean Farinaccio posted on: August 04, 2008 * about stocks: RAI) Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/aug/06/analysis-at-rjr-indicates-job-cuts/ http://tobacco.org/news/269628.html A self-examination of business practices at Reynolds American Inc. and its top subsidiary is likely to lead to job cuts, officials said yesterday. The analysis of Reynolds and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., announced to employees yesterday, is expected to be concluded by Sept. 30, said Jan Smith, a senior director of communications for Reynolds. The review affects just salaried employees, she said. "We won't know how many jobs will be impacted until the analysis is completed," Smith said. . . . Smith said that Reynolds American has 140 employees, most of them salaried. Reynolds Tobacco has about 5,650 employees, of which about 1,650 are salaried employees. The company also has about 1,900 production employees and about 2,100 field-trade marketing employees. Altogether, Reynolds American and R.J. Reynolds have about 3,700 employees in Forsyth County. Winston-Salem Journal rcraver@wsjournal.com (Richard Craver * Journal Reporter ) Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://uk.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNewsUS/idUKN3134443720080731?sp=true http://tobacco.org/news/269425.html British American Tobacco Plc, the world's second-largest publicly traded tobacco company, said on Thursday first-half profit rose 16 percent, underscoring strength in emerging markets, despite higher fuel prices. At the same time, Altria Group Inc -- which sells the dominant Marlboro brand but only operates in the United States -- saw a faster decline in the number of cigarettes it sells, raising concerns about how well cash-strapped U.S. consumers are taking to cigarette price increases. "Price increases accelerated the volume decline seen in the first quarter," Gregg Warren, an analyst at Morningstar said of Altria. A day earlier, Altria rival Reynolds American Inc said its volume decline slowed in the second quarter from the first, easing concerns over how much price increases would hurt the U.S. market. . . . BAT, like other cigarette groups, has seen some western European markets decline, with smoking bans taking effect in public places and high excise taxes. But it has seen strong growth in emerging markets such as eastern Europe and Asia. Altria, which spun off Philip Morris International Inc in March, does not have emerging markets to fall back on as it faces declining U.S. cigarette consumption, more local government smoking bans and higher cigarette taxes. Reuters Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT