Yesmoke

"Yesmoke" is a cigarette brand produced by Yesmoke Tobacco SpA of Torino, Italy.

The tobaccos used in Yesmoke cigarettes come from 6 different countries and they are basically three types: Toasted Burley, Virginia (Flue-Cured) and Oriental. A specific combination of these three tobaccos makes up the so-called "American Blend", the most widely used in the world.

Flavors

Available in 4 flavours:
Red (regular)Silver (medium)White (lights)

Design

Venturethree, London, UK.

History

The Yesmoke brand was born in Balerna, a little village in the Italian part of Switzerland, on the 1st of January 2000. Before becoming a cigarette brand, Yesmoke was the world’s largest online tobacco store, with more than 6 million cartons of 200 cigarettes sold every year: Marlboro, Camel, Winston and all the most popular brands. For some people this was a cigarette smuggling operation; for others it was the opening of an innovative, legitimate distribution channel.

The shop, after a legal war with Philip Morris, was forced to surrender on November 16th, 2004 when two hundred U.S. agents stormed the J.F. Kennedy Airport in New York, blocked a DHL Boeing 757 cargo coming from Switzerland, and seized 150'000 cartons of cigarettes destined for distribution in the United States, where Yesmoke had the majority of its customers.

In the summer of 2005 Yesmoke began moving to Italy. And on August 7th 2007, 7 years, 7 months and 7 days after Yesmoke’s birth, they inaugurated at Settimo (literally "Seventh"), near Torino, a cigarette production factory, identical to those of multinational cigarette manufacturers, with a production capacity of 50 million cartons per year of the new cigarette brand "Yesmoke".

Conflicts

Philip Morris in 2001 started up a lawsuit for “unfair competition” and “copyright violations”, accusing the Yesmoke shop of selling to American citizens Marlboro cigarettes destined for the European market. Philip Morris’s lawsuit went on for more than two years, bringing the company into the headlines of newspapers and televisions.

A federal law, known as the Imported Cigarette Compliance Act of 2000, prohibits the importation of cigarettes into the United States bearing registered U.S. trademarks without the authorization of the trademark owner. That law is enforced by the United States Customs Service, and PM USA has notified Customs that it has not authorized the importation of any PM USA-branded cigarettes into the United States.

In January 2000, Yesmoke had started selling online to American customers Marlboro cigarettes, made in the European Union, Switzerland and the Philippines, that were not destined to the American market. Philip Morris invoked the above federal law and in December 2003 won the lawsuit.

After the 2003 sentence in its favour, Philip Morris made a claim of 548 million dollars in damage compensation. In the history of United States legislation, this would have been the highest claim for damages for the alleged offence of Copyright Infringement and Unfair Competition.

In spite of the 2003 sentence in favour of Philip Morris, the USPS (United States Postal Service) continued to deliver the cigarettes regularly to Americans smokers, under the American Federal Law, that sanctions the right of the citizens to import cigarettes from abroad, with customs declaration and payment of the customs duties (which, however, the Customs Bureau continued to ignore). After August 20th 2004, when Philip Morris took possession of the Yesmoke.com domain and the online store transferred to its Swiss address Yesmoke.ch, the USPS went on delivering the cigarettes.

On November 16th, 2004 200 U.S. agents blocked a DHL Boeing 757 cargo coming from Switzerland, and seized 150'000 cartons of cigarettes. At the same time, newspapers and televisions programs reported: "No one had ever seen a blitz like this one: no less than nine Federal, State and local investigation agencies began an interminable inspection at New York's JFK Airport”.

Goals

"Yesmoke’s project goes well beyond competition against other producers. It is a battleship ready to direct all its resources to the financial downfall of the cigarette manufacturing cartel. The final objective is to extirpate the Big Tobacco blister from society".

External links

History:
* [http://www.yesmoke.eu/blog/?p=24 The blitz at New York's JFK Airport]
* [http://www.yesmoke.eu/blog/?p=172 Massive Cigarette Smuggling Ring Busted At JFK Airport - 11/17/04 - Eyewitness News]
* [http://www.yesmoke.eu/blog/?p=171 Feds seize cigarettes at JFK Airport - 11/17/04 - 1010WINS.COM]
* [http://www.yesmoke.eu/blog/?p=166 Crooks Travel 'Light' - 11/17/04 - NYPost.com]
* [http://www.yesmoke.eu/blog/?p=163 Feds stub out big cig racket - 11/17/04 - New York Daily News]

Conflicts:
* [http://philipmorrisusa.com/en/faq/internet_sales.asp Philipmorrisusa.com: the PM USA’s position on the sale of its cigarettes over the Internet]
* [http://www.philipmorrisusa.com/en/about_us/media/press_releases/articles/PR_August_20_2004_FCTODNTPMU.asp Philipmorrisusa.com: Federal Court Transfers Otamedia (Yesmoke) Domain Names to Philip Morris USA]
* [http://www.philipmorrisusa.com/en/about_us/media/press_releases/articles/PR_3_14_2005_FCOOTPPMUMIDFTI.asp Philipmorrisusa.com: Federal Court Orders Otamedia (Yesmoke) to Pay Philip Morris USA $173 Million in Damages for Trademark Infringement]
* [http://www.yesmoke.com/ Yesmoke.com (Philip Morris USA)]