Zippo''s Lawsuit against E-cig Maker Settled, the Company Reports

Source from:  The Bradford Era 07/06/2015

A lawsuit pitting Zippo Manufacturing Co. against tobacco giant Lorillard, over the latter's use of a brand name and logo, has been settled "amicably, Zippo officials report.

The lawsuit, involving a Lorillard subsidiary's use of the name "blu" in a popular and profitable line of e-cigarettes, was filed last April in a California federal court.

In it, Zippo argued the brand too closely resembled its line of "BLU" butane lighters, and infringed upon a trademark for the product.

The exact terms of the settlement, confirmed by Zippo earlier this week, remain unclear.

When reached for comment on Wednesday, Zippo CEO Greg Booth said simply, "both parties have resolved all litigation between them on a mutually satisfactory and confidential basis."

The statement was echoed by Zippo's lawyers at Squire Sanders, a California-based firm.

Attorneys representing Lorillard subsidiary LOEC Inc., the defendant named in Zippo's suit, did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.

The legal challenge began more than one year ago, with Zippo suing LOEC in hopes of preventing further sales of their blu e-cigs and of recovering "actual damages and/or LOEC's profits" from earlier sales of the product.

"Zippo has always done whatever is needed to protect its brands," Booth told The Era in May of 2014. "Zippo is instantly recognizable because we have long understood the value of our brand and the need to vigorously protect it against use by others."

LOEC introduced its blu e-cigs brand, one of the largest in the burgeoning e-cigarette market, in 2009, two years after Zippo trademarked its BLU butane and cigar lighters, court documents showed.

When Lorillard purchased the blu e-cigs brand for $139 million from a private owner in 2012, the company promptly sued Zippo for a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, a sort of pre-emptive legal strike.

After what Zippo called prolonged attempts to resolve the matter, the Bradford-based lighter manufacturer filed its own suit.

The company's lawyers argued LOEC's blu e-cigs could be mistaken for Zippo's BLU line of products, potentially prompting consumer confusion.

LOEC's lawyers disagreed, claiming the products were not direct competitors, shared no common use and had a dissimilar appearance.

Both include the Blu name, in Zippo's the letters are all upper case, as well as blue coloration in the logos.

It is not clear if the settlement, reached in May and confirmed by Zippo this week, will impact either company's use of the Blu brand or their respective logos. Enditem