Philip Morris USA sued another New York retailer..

January 26, 2010 - Philip Morris USA, the nation's biggest cigarette seller, said Friday, January 22nd it has sued another New York retailer, accusing it of selling counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes.

The latest lawsuit is against G.J. Smokes in Mastic, a town on New York's Long Island.

The company has sued 27 retail outlets in New York and New Jersey since May 2009 in an effort to stop the sales of counterfeit smokes. The counterfeits often are sold without payment of excise taxes, the company said.

The company has said the New York area is prone to counterfeit sales because of the combination of high federal, state and local taxes. In the past few years, higher taxes have boosted black market cigarette sales.

The purchase of cartons of counterfeit versions of Marlboro® brand cigarettes by company agents prompted the lawsuit. Today’s lawsuit follows similar suits filed against four other smoke shops in Mastic, N.Y. in 2009, for selling counterfeit versions of Marlboro® brand cigarettes. In those cases, PM USA worked with Suffolk County authorities who raided the four smoke shops and seized 487 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes bearing Marlboro brand trademarks.

Philip Morris USA said employees of G.J. Smokes bought cartons of counterfeit cigarettes that bore the Marlboro brand name. The tobacco company has sued four other cigarette shops in Mastic.

PM USA - NYC area, counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes related news briefs:
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NYC Area - more counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes seized..;
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Reference: Philip Morris (MO) files Lawsuit Against G.J. Smokes Over Counterfeit Marlboro's, StreetInsider.com, 1/22/2010.