By Timothy S. Donahue

Top Takeaways:

• Patent fight: AJ Marketing alleges Juul 1 and newly authorized Juul2 devices infringe a patent covering personal inhalation technology.
• Military origins: The patented technology was initially conceived to deliver measured caffeine doses as a non-impairing alternative to amphetamines for military pilots.
• Royalties sought: AJ Marketing wants damages for up to six years of alleged infringement and an ongoing royalty through the patent’s expected expiration in 2031.

Juul’s newly authorized device is the subject of a new patent lawsuit.

AJ Marketing LLC sued Juul Labs in federal court in Delaware on Thursday, alleging that the company’s original JUUL and newly authorized JUUL2 e-cigarette devices infringe technology that traces its origins to an effort to deliver metered doses of caffeine to military pilots.

The Maine-based company alleges that both generations of Juul devices infringe U.S. Patent No. 8,851,068, titled “Personal inhalation devices.”

According to the complaint, the technology was initially conceived as a means to deliver controlled doses of caffeine to military pilots as a non-impairing alternative to amphetamines used to maintain alertness.

The patent covers aspects of a personal inhalation device that vaporizes a substance and delivers controlled doses to a user.

AJ Marketing alleges that Juul Labs’ devices infringe patented features related to the device’s heating and delivery system. The lawsuit seeks at least a reasonable royalty for infringement during the six years preceding the complaint, as well as an ongoing royalty through the patent’s expiration, which Bloomberg Law estimates will occur in January 2031.

The timing adds an additional wrinkle to the case.

Last week, the FDA authorized the JUUL2 device and two pods through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process, clearing the company’s second-generation platform for legal marketing in the United States.

AJ Marketing specifically identifies JUUL2 alongside the original JUUL device in its infringement allegations, meaning the newly authorized product enters the U.S. market amid an existing patent challenge.

The lawsuit is the latest intellectual property dispute involving Juul Labs, which has both enforced its vaporization patents against competitors and faced patent claims by other companies.

Juul Labs has not yet responded to the allegations in court.

The case is AJ Marketing LLC v. Juul Labs Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.