Star Scientific v. R.J. Reynolds

A trial begins tomorrow in a patent infringement case that could result in the largest patent infringement award in U.S. history. It could also pave the way down tobacco road to less hazardous cigarettes, in terms of the rate of cancers caused from smoking.

The case is Star Scientific, Inc., v. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and jury selection already occurred on Monday, May 18, 2009. The trial is scheduled for 3 to 4 weeks. The venue is the U.S. District Court for Maryland, Baltimore (Northern) Division (101 W. Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 962-2600). The case is civil action number MJG 01-CV-1504 and MJG 02-CV-1504.

Aside from its status as a large patent infringement case, this is truly a David v. Goliath scenario. Tiny Star Scientific of Chester, VA is exclusive licensee of patents owned by inventor and principal stockholder Jonnie Williams. The patents are for a method of substantially eliminating what are believed to be among the most potent carcinogens, called tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), in cured tobacco, and thus potentially eliminating them from both smokeless and smoked tobacco.

If the patents are upheld in this case, royalties from other industry players, who may have infringed (and continue to do so), over the life of the patents, could amount to well over a billion dollars.

Expert testimony directly concerning the role of TSNAs in causing many of the cancers from smoking will likely be part of the damages argument. RJR/RAI has unleashed a blizzard of motions in limine to try to avoid a court room scene in which the court may have to litigate just what role smoking plays in causing cancer, and how it does so. It appears that both the court and RJR/RAI would like to avoid that scenario, and yet that matter is the crux of the worth of Star’s intellectual property, and thus determines damages and royalties.

The scene smacks of an era of legal Americana … an era in which even the most despised corporate structures in America, big tobacco, appear to hold sway, even still at least at first brush, in matters before Congress and the courts. It pits a corporate David against tobacco Goliaths in a battle in which the proverbial David tries to force the tobacco industry to improve the safety of its products using new technology, and the tobacco Goliaths seemingly fight for their right to continue doing business with only one concern - the bottom line.