Tobacco industry argues domestic trademark laws and international treaties preclude cigarette health warning labels, despite consistent legal advice that the argument is invalid: Table 1
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: To analyse the tobacco industry's use of international trade agreements to oppose policies to strengthen health warning labels (HWLs). DESIGN: A review of tobacco industry documents, tobacco control legislation and international treaties. RESULTS: During the early 1990s, the tobacco industry became increasingly alarmed about the advancement of HWLs on cigarettes packages. In response, it requested legal opinions from British American Tobacco's law firms in Australia and England, Britain's Department of Trade and Industry and the World Intellectual Property Organisation on the legality of restricting and prohibiting the use of their trademarks, as embodied in cigarette packages. The consistent legal advice, privately submitted to the companies, was that international treaties do not shield trademark owners from government limitations (including prohibition) on the use of their trademarks. Despite receiving this legal advice, the companies publicly argued that requiring large HWLs compromised their trademark rights under international treaties. The companies successfully used these arguments as part of their successful effort to deter Canadian and Australian governments from enacting laws requiring the plan packaging of cigarettes, which helped delay large graphic HWLs, including 'plain' packaging, for over a decade. CONCLUSIONS: Governments should not be intimidated by tobacco company threats and unsubstantiated claims, and carefully craft HWL laws to withstand the inevitable tobacco industry lawsuits with the knowledge that the companies' own lawyers as well as authoritative bodies have told the companies that the rights they claim do not exist.
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Tobacco companies directly challenged public health policies using investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms in trade and investment agreements and used the threat of legal action to dissuade governments from implementing tobacco control policies.
“Subsequently, tobacco companies directly challenged public health policies using investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms in trade and investment agreements7 and used the threat of legal action8 to dissuade governments from implementing tobacco control policies.9”
From Defending strong tobacco packaging and labelling regulations in Uruguay: transnational tobacco control network versus Philip Morris International (2018) · cites this paper as [9]
These industries are increasingly turning to trade and investment agreements to prevent or slow the global diffusion of these policy innovations.
“In particular, these industries are increasingly turning to trade and investment agreements to prevent or slow the global diffusion of these policy innovations (Barlow, McKee, Basu, & Stuckler, 2017; Crosbie & Glantz, 2014).”
From Advancing progressive health policy to reduce NCDs amidst international commercial opposition: Tobacco standardised packaging in Australia (2018) · cites this paper as Crosbie & Glantz, 2014
For decades, the mere threat of legal action helped create a regulatory chill by blocking, weakening, and delaying public health policies in many countries.
“For decades, the mere threat of legal action helped create a regulatory chill (Tienhaara, 2011) by blocking, weakening, and delaying public health policies in many countries (Crosbie & Glantz, 2014; Crosbie, Sosa, & Glantz, 2017a)”
From Advancing progressive health policy to reduce NCDs amidst international commercial opposition: Tobacco standardised packaging in Australia (2018) · cites this paper as Crosbie & Glantz, 2014
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Cites
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Exposing and addressing tobacco industry conduct in low-income and middle-income countries
Gilmore, A. B., Fooks, G., Drope, J., Bialous, S. A., & Jackson, R. R. (2015) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(15)60312-9 · Cited by 372 · see citing works
Crosbie, E., Sosa, P., & Glantz, S. A. (2018) · Tobacco control · doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053690 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Self-citationHiilamo, H., & Glantz, S. A. (2015) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.054 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Self-citationCrosbie, E., Sosa, P., & Glantz, S. A. (2017) · Tobacco Control · doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2015-052701 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Self-citationCrosbie, E., Thomson, G., Freeman, B., & Bialous, S. (2018) · Global Public Health · doi:10.1080/17441692.2018.1443485 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Crosbie, E., & Glantz, S. A.
- Affiliations
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Corresponding author
- Glantz, Stanton A
- Venue
- Tobacco Control
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2012-11-24
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e7-e7
- ISSN
- 0964-4563 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-3318
- PMC
- PMC3725199
- OpenAlex
- W2111465828
- Cited by
- 64
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 8.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Tobacco Control (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of California, San Francisco
- National Cancer Institute (R01CA087472, CA 87472)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology
- Social Sciences › Law › Intellectual Property Law
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Keywords
- tobacco industry, trademark rights, international trade agreements, plain packaging, graphic health warnings, tobacco control, World Intellectual Property Organization, tobacco litigation, tobacco control legislation
- MeSH terms
- Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Health Promotion, Humans, International Cooperation, Product Labeling, Smoking, Intellectual Property, Product Packaging, Tobacco Industry, Government Regulation, Dissent and Disputes, Tobacco Products
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