Philip Morris Seeks End to Smokes Import

Source from:  March 5, 2008 By MICHAEL FELBERBAUM RICHMOND, Va.  03/07/2008

Philip Morris USA, the nation's No. 1 tobacco company, is asking the International Trade Commission to stop Internet-based cigarette vendors from illegally importing Marlboros and other brands made for foreign markets and selling them in the United States. The complaint is the latest in a series of legal actions the Richmond company has taken to end the trade of illegally imported, counterfeit, stolen and untaxed or under-taxed cigarettes. "Our brands are among our company's most valuable assets, and we take many steps to protect them," Charlie Whitaker, the company's vice president of compliance and brand integrity, said in a news release. Philip Morris said the Internet-based cigarette vendors are unfairly selling cigarettes with the company's trademarks in violation of U.S. intellectual property laws and the Lanham Act. The federal government and many state governments have increased taxes on cigarettes over the last few years, raising their overall prices. So-called gray-market vendors typically import smokes intended for foreign markets and sell them to consumers more cheaply than domestic products because they're untaxed. The complaint asks the trade commission to issue an order requiring U.S. Customs & Border Protection to stop all infringing imports from entering the country. The order would include products sold by the 13 Web sites named in the complaint and any other sites engaged in similar activity, including 177 additional sites listed in the complaint. Philip Morris USA is a unit of Altria Group Inc., based in New York. Shares of Altria rose $1.08 to close at $74.91 Wednesday. Enditem