By Michael Felberbaum

RICHMOND, Va. Owners of brands geared toward children of all ages are battling to keep notable names like Thin Mint, Tootsie Roll and Cinnamon Toast Crunch off the flavoured nicotine used in electronic cigarettes.

Now the owners of those trademarks are fighting back to make sure their brands aren’t being used to sell an addictive drug or make it appealing to to children.

General Mills Inc., the Girl Scouts of the USA and Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. are among several companies that have sent cease and desist letters to makers of the liquid nicotine demanding they stop using the brands and may take further legal action if necessary.

The actions highlight the debate about the array of flavours available for the battery powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution, creating vapour that users inhale. The Food and Drug Administration last month proposed regulating electronic cigarettes but didn’t immediately ban on fruit or candy flavours, which are barred for use in regular cigarettes because of the worry that the flavours are used to appeal to children.

It’s growing pains for the industry that reached nearly $2 billion in sales last year in the face of looming regulation. E cigarette users say the devices address both the addictive and behavioural aspects of smoking without the thousands of chemicals found in regular cigarettes.

There are about 1,500 e liquid makers in the U.S. and countless others abroad selling vials of nicotine from traditional tobacco to cherry cola on the Internet and in retail stores, often featuring photos of the popular treats. Using the brand name like Thin Mint or Fireball conjures up a very specific flavour in buyers’ minds, in a way that just «mint chocolate» or «cinnamon» doesn’t.

«Using the Thin Mint name which is synonymous with Girl Scouts and everything we do to enrich the lives of girls to market e cigarettes to youth is deceitful and shameless,» Girl Scouts spokeswoman Kelly Parisi said in a statement.

The issue of illegally using well known brands on e cigarette products isn’t new for some. For a couple of years, cigarette makers R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Philip Morris USA have fought legal battles with websites selling e cigarette liquid capitalizing on their Camel and Marlboro brand names and imagery. The companies have since released their own e cigarettes but without using their top selling brand names.

«It’s the age old problem with an emerging market,» said Linc Williams, board member of the American E liquid Manufacturing Standards Association and an executive at NicVape Inc., which produces liquid nicotine. «As companies goes through their maturity process of going from being a wild entrepreneur to starting to establish real corporate ethics and product stewardship, it’s something that we’re going to continue to see.»

Williams said his company is renaming many of its liquids to names that won’t be associated with well known brands. Some companies demanded NicVape stop using brand names such as Junior Mints on their liquid nicotine. In other cases, the company is taking proactive steps to removing imagery and names like gummy bear that could be appealing to children.

«Unfortunately it’s not going to change unless companies come in and assert their intellectual property,» he said.

And that’s what companies are starting to do more often as the industry has rocketed from thousands of users in 2006 to several million worldwide, bringing the issue to the forefront.

«We’re family oriented. A lot of kids eat our products, we have many adults also, but our big concern is we have to protect the trademark,» said Ellen Gordon, president and chief operating officer of Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. «When you have well known trademarks, one of your responsibilities is to protect (them) because it’s been such a big investment over the years.»

Deerfield brand cigarettes

Please note These products are available exclusively to persons of First Nations status within the boundaries of Canada.

«On a February night in 1704 a war party of Iroquois and their allies at the time, the French, attacked the village of Deerfield in the northwest part of Massachusetts. The ongoing war between the French and the English was escalating and the French were attempting to extend their control down to the city of Boston. There were 111 captives taken that day, many of which were later adopted by the Iroquois and formed families with Iroquois companions. The village of Kahnawake, Quebec in Canada possesses families with direct lineage to these partnerships to this day.»

Rainbow Tobacco Company created the Deerfield Brand of cigarettes to honour the history of Kahnawake. The Deerfield brand is a constant reminder of Canadian and First Nation heritage for consumers across the country.

Deerfield Brand Cigarettes are made with premium flue cured Virginia tobaccos blended specifically for the Canadian Market. Canadian consumers enjoy a premium smooth filtered smoke and that s what Deerfield and Rainbow Tobacco is all about. Deerfield brand cigarettes are premium blend king size cigarettes available in Original, Elite, Elegant, Chic, Blue and Menthol in 25 cigarette slide and shell packs and 20 cigarette hinge lid packs. Try Deerfield Blue with Microblue filter technology to reduce the toxicity due to smoking by more than 50%. (See the official Filligent website for details.)