Elicko Taieb- E-Cigarette Entrepreneurship

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Elicko Taieb is a serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of business and branding excellence in various industries. He invests in potentially survivable and profitable businesses and is also a branding consultant and business advisor.

Among the many roles that he plays in the modern business world, he is also a public speaker for many entrepreneurial venues. He is always determined to leave a mark in the respective industry he chooses to operate in.

Some of the industries that Eli Taieb operates in include food, CBD, hospitality, real estate, pest control, Daily deals aggregator, and, more importantly, electronic cigarettes and vapor products. E-cig and vaporizers’ industry is the one where Eli created a solid groundwork for future growth and stability.

Eli had to fight against the concerning regulations and rules of the government authorities in order to protect the business interests of the E-cig industry.

Elicko Taieb- E-Cigarettes Entrepreneurship

Elicko Taieb took up many new business ventures, but the e-cig industry remains one of his most influential business development and achievements. He was the founder of one of the first electronic cigarette companies in the United States, “Smoking Everywhere.

However, it wasn’t easy or similar to the other business ventures of Eli Taieb. In reality, Eli was involved in a court case against the United States Food and Drug Administration Authority (FDA). The real concern related to the way FDA was regulating and restricting the e-cigarettes and other similar products’ production and import.

With the partnership of Sottera Inc., Smoking Everywhere, under the control of Eli Taieb, fought an expensive lawsuit against the FDA’s regulations against electronic cigarettes. The case itself set a precedent for how FDA should regulate electronic cigarettes in the United States.

In fact, the case gave clarity that unless the marketing depicted electronic cigarettes as cessation devices, FDA could regulate them as tobacco products.

District Court Case- Sottera Inc. and Elicko Taieb

Elicko Taieb

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The growing demand for electronic cigarettes in other countries inspired Elicko Taieb to begin a business venture of his own to fulfill the potential market gaps in the United States. Thus, he established the nation’s first electronic cigarette companies.

On the other hand, FDA imposed strict regulations and bans on the import of e-cig products for both Sottera Inc. and Smoking Everywhere. The bans from FDA were based on the idea that e-cigs and other vapor products were unapproved devices and combinations that were helping people to treat nicotine withdrawal.

By using the authority of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), FDA was trying to establish substantial restrictions and other responsible officials from Sottera Inc. filed a lawsuit in the US District Court of Columbia. The plaintiffs debated that the electronic cigarettes were not nicotine treatment device combinations but rather similar to the traditional cigarettes. They clarified that the purpose of electronic cigarettes was the same as conventional cigarettes, i.e., enjoyment through smoking.

Closure of the US District Court Case

In the May of 2009, the district court allowed Smoking Everywhere and Sottera Inc. to carry their import operations for the e-cigs. However, the preliminary injunction was until the case went further up the investigations and decisions. Thus, in the meantime, FDA was unable to block the e-cig imports for both companies.

Conclusively, the district court granted the injunction during the January of 2010 to both companies. Despite this, there were court arguments that depicted how tobacco products were not drugs due to the sole reason of nicotine delivery.

Moreover, the judges also remarked that e-cigs and other vapor products were entering the market with the intent to stir up the demand for nicotine consumption rather than curbing them.

Elicko Taieb and US Court of Appeals

The FDA once again made an appeal to the US Court of Appeals but was left out of favor as the court sided with Elicko Taieb and Sottera Inc. Furthermore, they declared E-cigarettes were tobacco products and not the unapproved device combinations to treat nicotine withdrawal. Hence, FDA could not stop both companies from importing it.