Altria Group said on Tuesday its subsidiary, NJOY, has filed a complaint against Juul Labs with the U.S. International Trade Commission, seeking a ban on the import and sale of certain Juul e-vapor products.
The company said Juul products infringe certain patents owned by NJOY and intends to obtain a ban on products including its currently marketed Juul device and Juulpods.
Juul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Altria had earlier this year exited from the 35% stake it had in Juul. It had bought startup NJOY Holdings for about $2.75 billion in March.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
