If rumors are true, the largest cigarette manufacturer in the U.S., Philip Morris, will take of control the market for the Electric Cigarette domestically and abroad. Knowing that the FDA now has the ability to regulate tobacco products, as per the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, this appears a strategic move by the cigarette giant. The intentions of Philip Morris are unclear but rumors are brewing that they may try and shut down the electric cigarette industry completely or possibly release their very own ecig and attempt to stomp out the competition.Rumors began circulating in July of this year when Quamnet, a financial website based in Hong Kong, leaked information that an independent 3rd party had entered negotiating with Ruyan Group. Ruyan is the original inventor of the e-cigarette and registrar of electric cigarette patents in more than 40 countries. Neither companies have denied or confirmed allegations at this point but negotiations appear to be moving forward.
More recently, in October of this year, Ruyan Group was rumored to have liquidated all of their office space for $3.5 million dollars. The purchaser is currently remaining anonymous. Stock market volatility resulted in the trading of Ruyan's stock being suspended on 11/2/09 due to a pending "price sensitive announcement". When you look at all of these signs, I would expect PM to own the rights to the company and its patents within the next year at the most.










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