Phillip Morris Sues Veppo E-Cigarettes

The tobacco giant Phillip Morris has been targeting Veppo E-Cigarettes for potential trademark infringement of the Marlboro mark.
The websites VeppoCig.com and E-CigaretteDirect.com have been contacted by attorneys for Phillip Morris (PM USA) via email and certified letter.

The letter claimed that E-CigaretteDirect.com is infringing on PM USA's trademark of the Marlboro logo and word mark. The item in question is their M'boro like flavored e-liquid. PM USA would like E-CigaretteDirect.com and VeppoCig.com to stop using the letter "M" in that particular font, claiming that it is 'confusingly similar to the font PM USA uses on its MARLBORO cigarette packaging.".

"The font that is used for the M'boro like flavored e-liquid is a Times New Roman Font. The only similarity it may have to the marlboro font is that it is a serif font. However, Times New Roman is a widely used font and in no way infringes on PM USA Trademark" stated Gina King, brand manager for VeppoCig.com
The letter from PM USA also requested that the websites remove the word "M'boro" from their description of the e-liquid, stating that "M'Boro is confusingly similar" and the sites "merely removed the letters “a”, “r”, and “l” and inserted an apostrophe".
Ms. King responded by stating "We are not aware at this point that PM USA has a trademark on the word M'boro nor on the letter M".

E-Cigarettes have become a popular option to smoking regular cigarettes. They claim to not have the thousands of chemicals and hundreds of carcinogens that are added to cigarettes. The e-liquid nicotine that is in question is the solution that is used to refill the e-cigarette. It provides the smokers with the taste, nicotine and sensations of smoking, but without the tar nor carcinogens.