Vaping Patent Lawsuit Revived Against Philip Morris Products (1)

Philip Morris Products SA’s heat-not-burn nicotine delivery system is similar enough to a patented e-cigarette design for Healthier Choices Management Corp.'s infringement claims against the tobacco giant to proceed, the Federal Circuit ruled.

The appeals court revived the case after a Georgia federal court dismissed it and awarded the Philip Morris International Inc. unit attorneys fees.

Healthier Choices made “sufficient allegations to raise a facially plausible case of patent infringement,” Judge Kara F. Stoll wrote on Wednesday for the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The company alleged that Philip Morris’ IQOS system—which “heats tobacco-filled sticks wrapped in ...