Cinnabon Suing Vape Company For Trademark Infringement

Cinnabon, the company behind the popular cinnamon rolls, is suing LiquidChronic, a vaping company based in Las Vegas, for copyright infringement over an e-cigarette liquid that uses the “Cinnabon” brand name.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that in a federal lawsuit filed Monday, Cinnabon accused LiquidChronic of “targeting consumers which are familiar with” the cinnamon rolls that can be found in food courts across the world, and that the unauthorized “Cinnabon” flavored e-cigarette liquid is “likely to tarnish the Cinnabon Mark and cause a blurring in the minds of consumers.”

According to the Review-Journal, Cinnabon said that it “made several attempts to ask LiquidChronic to stop using its trademark on the vaping products, including three separate letters sent between February and June that did not receive a response.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the “Cinnabon” flavored e-liquid was still available for purchase on LiquidChronic.com. The 100ml bottle comes with a $26 price tag.

Cinnabon Doesn’t Want Vaping Association

The lawsuit comes at a moment of crisis for the entire vaping industry, which after seeing a massive rise has been rocked this year by a series of illnesses and deaths stemming from e-cigarette use. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that, as of Tuesday, there were more than 1,600 cases of lung injuries related to vaping, with the injuries occurring in every state except for Alaska. According to the CDC, there have been 34 confirmed deaths in 24 states. The culprit in most cases, it seems, are illicit vaping devices that contain THC.

“The latest national and state findings suggest products containing THC, particularly those obtained off the street or from other informal sources (e.g. friends, family members, illicit dealers), are linked to most of the cases and play a major role in the outbreak,” the CDC reported.

The epidemic has prompted calls from lawmakers, including President Donald Trump, to tighten regulations on the products, while medical officials have stressed that the extent of the risks posed by e-cigarettes remains somewhat unknown.

“Vaping exposes users to many different substances for which we have little information about related harms – including flavorings, nicotine, cannabinoids, and solvents,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert R. Redfield said in August.

Cinnabon isn’t the first company to actively distance itself from the troubled industry. Last month, Walmart announced plans to stop selling e-cigarettes, citing the “regulatory complexity” and industry “uncertainty” as its reasoning behind the decision.