Vaping News: VEEX Official Account Renamed to VEE, Tobacco Licenses Are Free to Apply For

1. VEEX Official Account Changes!<\/strong><\/p>

It may no longer be able to use the "VEEX" trademark to produce and sell e-cigarette products.<\/strong><\/p>

Today at 5 PM, the official WeChat account of VEEX changed its name from "VEEX维刻"<\/strong><\/span> to "VEE 维刻".<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

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From the comparison with the original version, it is evident that there has been almost no change; I must say the designer is really lazy!<\/p>

VEEX was sued by international tobacco giant Philip Morris in December this year, claiming that its use of the similar trademark "VEEX" to the registered trademark of Philip Morris's "VEEV" series constitutes trademark infringement.<\/p>

Subsequently, it was found that the "VEEX" used by VEEX was ruled invalid in the "Trademark Information - Tobacco Products" category. According to the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law, the Tobacco Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Implementation Regulations of the Tobacco Monopoly Law, cigarettes, cigars, packaged tobacco, and new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes must use registered trademarks. Those not approved for registration in China cannot be produced or sold in China. In other words, VEEX may no longer be able to produce and sell e-cigarette products under the "VEEX" trademark.<\/strong><\/p>

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2. New Tobacco Stocks Move: Jinlaite Hits the Limit Up<\/strong><\/p>

Jinlaite (002723) hit the limit up today, marking its fourth limit up in the past year.<\/p>

The reason for the movement is revealed: the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Shenzhen Yunhai Venture Investment Co., Ltd., signed an investment framework agreement with Bode (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd., American Bode, Cayman Bode, and Wang Zeqi regarding the A++ round of preferred stock financing.<\/strong> Additionally, the wholly-owned subsidiary Yunhai Venture will use its own funds of 30 million RMB to increase its capital, and after the capital increase, Yunhai Venture will hold approximately 2.5840% of Shenzhen Bode's equity. Bode Group is mainly engaged in the research, production, and sales of electronic atomization devices and e-liquids, and is one of the leading brands in the electronic atomization field.<\/p>

Currently, American Bode has submitted a pre-market tobacco product application (PMTA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has entered the substantive scientific review stage. According to the FDA's official website, American Bode has submitted a total of 14 PMTA applications for tobacco products, including 8 electronic liquid projects and 6 electronic atomization hardware projects.<\/strong><\/p>

Market analysis: The stock hit the limit up today, and there may be continued upward momentum in the future.<\/p>

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3. YOOZ E-cigarettes Announce Discontinuation of Some Zero Series Flavored Pods<\/strong><\/p>

Previously, Bode, Lami, and others announced the discontinuation of some flavors.
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On January 4, it was announced that to comply with national standards for e-cigarette products, brands are gradually discontinuing flavored pods. Today, YOOZ E-cigarettes announced that starting in February, they will discontinue some flavors from the Zero series.<\/p>

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4. Wuzhou City Breaks First Case of Counterfeit E-cigarettes<\/strong><\/p>

Seizing over 40,000 units, involving over 4.66 million RMB<\/strong><\/p>

On December 17, 2021, the case of trademark infringement involving Li, Zheng, and others was heard in the Wuzhou People's Court, initiated by the Tianxian People's Procuratorate. This case is the first counterfeit trademark case involving e-cigarettes in Wuzhou City.<\/p>

In May 2021, Li invested in acquiring shares of a certain electronic technology company in Wuzhou City, becoming the legal representative and shareholder of the company. Subsequently, he, along with Zheng and others, managed the company in a local market, illegally producing counterfeit e-cigarettes without the permission of the registered trademark owners. On June 9, 2021, the company was investigated by the police, who seized 26,300 counterfeit e-cigarettes bearing the "HQD" trademark of Shenzhen Hanqingda Technology Co., Ltd., 3,350 counterfeit e-cigarettes bearing the "ELF BAR" trademark of Shenzhen Weiboli Technology Co., Ltd., and 10,000 counterfeit e-cigarettes bearing the "(KADO) PUFFPLUS" trademark of Shenzhen Daosen Steam Technology Co., Ltd. (including 4,800 loose units and 5,200 boxed units), as well as 400 counterfeit e-cigarettes bearing the "MK" trademark of Beijing Mankeswei Technology Development Co., Ltd., along with a batch of counterfeit anti-counterfeiting codes and semi-finished e-cigarette components. The total value of the seized items was assessed at 4,660,518 RMB.<\/p>

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5. Is there a fee for applying for a tobacco monopoly license? Please do not believe it!<\/strong><\/p>

Mr. Wei from Hechi City asked:<\/strong> Recently, someone told me that the tobacco monopoly laws have been amended, and that one can obtain a tobacco retail license by paying a "deposit." Is this true?<\/strong><\/p>

Chen Zhiyang from the Hechi City Bureau replied:<\/strong> Recently, to strengthen the regulation of new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes, the State Council decided to amend the Implementation Regulations of the Tobacco Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China, adding a new clause as Article 65: "New tobacco products such as e-cigarettes shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions of this regulation for cigarettes." The new regulations do not involve any provisions regarding license applications.<\/p>

According to the "Implementation Rules for the Management of Tobacco Monopoly Licenses," the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau shall not charge any fees for processing tobacco monopoly licenses.<\/strong><\/span> This includes all forms and names of fees, such as the "deposit" you mentioned, as well as common scams like "relationship fees" and "handling fees," which are tricks of illegal individuals. Please apply for licenses through legitimate channels to avoid being deceived.<\/p>

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6. E-cigarette product <\/strong>trademark labels <\/strong><\/span>must be printed by enterprises designated by provincial market supervision departments.<\/strong><\/p>

According to statistics from relevant agencies, there are currently about 200 large-scale tobacco label printing enterprises nationwide, with an average market of about 250,000 large boxes of labels per company, indicating a low concentration and dispersed competition in the label market. The main participants can be categorized into three types:<\/p> (1) National tobacco label printing enterprises represented by Jinjia Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Co., Ltd., accounting for about 30% of the market share;

(2) Small and medium-sized local tobacco label printing enterprises, accounting for about 30%-40% of the market share;<\/p>

(3) "Third industry" enterprises under cigarette factories, accounting for about 30%-40% of the market share.<\/p>

The regional distribution characteristics of tobacco label printing enterprises are significant. The regional pattern of cigarette production enterprises leads to a similar regional distribution of tobacco label printing enterprises (especially small and medium-sized enterprises). Overall, the East China/Southwest/Central China regions are the main cigarette production areas in China, where the tobacco label printing industry is relatively developed, accounting for over 70% of the printing output; individually, industry leaders are distributed evenly across the country, while small enterprises focus on serving individual provinces or tobacco companies.<\/p>

On December 2, 2021, the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau announced the draft for public consultation on the "E-cigarette Management Measures," which stipulates in Article 14 that e-cigarette products must use registered trademarks. The trademark labels for e-cigarette products must be printed by enterprises designated by provincial market supervision departments. Non-designated enterprises are prohibited from printing trademark labels for e-cigarette products.<\/p>

Based on this provision, it can be interpreted that after the formal implementation of the "E-cigarette Management Measures," any entity licensed to engage in e-cigarette production must have its trademark labels printed by enterprises designated by provincial market supervision departments.