Star Scientific seeking new trial

Petersburg-based Star Scientific Inc. has asked a judge to throw out a June jury verdict that its patents for reducing carcinogens in cigarettes were invalid.

Star Scientific, a small company that makes smokeless tobacco products, said yesterday that it is seeking a new trial after the federal jury in Baltimore also said Reynolds American Inc. didn't infringe Star's patented method for curing tobacco to reduce cancer-causing agents called nitrosamines. Star shares fell 73 percent the day after the verdict.

Star filed the lawsuit in 2000 against Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds, the nation's second-largest cigarette company.

On June 16, a jury rejected Star's efforts to seek hundreds of millions of dollars from Reynolds. Star claimed during the trial that Reynolds was unable on its own to reduce nitrosamines as much as Star could, so opted to use the technology as part of an effort to neutralize competition. Reynolds denied the claim, challenging the validity of the Star patents.

Star said it would appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit if its motion is denied. The case had initially been thrown out in June 2007 after U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis said Star deceived the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to obtain formal rights to the invention. The appeals court reversed that order, finding the judge's decision was "based on factual findings that we deem clearly erroneous," setting the stage for the recent trial.

"We believe the verdict was contrary to the evidence presented on both infringement and validity, and that the company will be vindicated at the conclusion of the judicial process," Star's chairman and president, Paul Perito, said in a statement yesterday.

Reynolds spokesman David Howard said the company expected Star's motion for a retrial. "The bottom line is, we stand by the unanimous decision of the 12-member jury in this case, and are confident that decision will be upheld on appeal," he said.

Shares of Star Scientific rose 2 cents, or 2 percent, to $1.01 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Staff writer John Reid Blackwell and Bloomberg News Service contributed to this report.