SOME of the world’s biggest tobacco companies are taking the UK Government to court today in a bid to scrap legislation requiring them to remove all branding from cigarette packets.
Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International are suing the Government for infringing their trademark and intellectual property rights by making them put their cigarettes in unbranded, plain boxes.
Between them the four big companies control nearly all of the UK’s £18.7 billion tobacco industry.
Plans to “standardise” cigarette packets were passed by MPs in 2015 and are due to come into force in May 2016. The brown or grey packets will have the name of the brand in a plain typeface and images of diseases caused by smoking.
Australia has had plain packing since 2012 and Ireland passed a similar law last year.
Despite losing similar cases in Australia, big tobacco believes it has one last chance to win the argument in the UK.
According to the FT, Imperial are expected to argue the law breaches EU legislation. EU law requires trademark rules to be consistent throughout all member states. The Government are expected to argue that this is irrelevant, as anti-tobacco legislation allows countries in the union to go above EU rules on tobacco control.
Japan Tobacco International says the change deprives the industry of its “brand property”.
Philip Morris, will argue that the law is inefficient and will point to smoking levels in Australia, which they claim remain unaffected by the ban. They also argue that the change had led to the increase of contraband cigarettes.
British American Tobacco is expected to back the argument about smoking levels in Australia and claim they were not adequately consulted by the government.
In a statement to Bloomberg they said: “The UK Government made a serious error of judgment by failing to properly take into account the Australian Government’s own data, which shows that plain packaging is not achieving its public-health objectives.
Intellectual property experts suggest the companies might struggle in the week long hearing to convince the court.
With tobacco advertising disappearing from TVs, newspapers, magazines and the like, and logos hidden from shops packaging was one of the few ways cigarette companies had of marking their brand identity.
Enrico Bonadio, professor at City Law School, said the companies are worried. “Tobacco companies are really worried. They’re aware that they’re about to lose the last communication tool they have,” he said.
If the court backs Parliament then it looks certain to effectively begin the end of branded tobacco packets throughout the world. Is it thought at least another 20 countries are watching this week’s hearing with interest and will move to legislate almost immediately if the UK’s law is upheld.
The French senate is already debating a plain-packaging proposal this month.
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