Philip Morris has relinquished its patent for fast-release nicotine pouches following a challenge from rival British American Tobacco, a European appeals panel confirmed in a ruling released Wednesday, Law360 reports. The report was first published September 30, 2026.

Why it matters for pouches

Speed of nicotine release is the current arms race in pouches. The newest products from both ZYN (Philip Morris) and Velo (BAT) compete largely on the same promise: nicotine that hits faster than a traditional pouch, closer to the experience smokers are used to. A granted patent around that mechanism is exactly the kind of asset a company uses to keep rivals' chemistry an arm's length away.

Giving the patent up — rather than fighting the challenge and losing — means the protection is gone, not narrowed. Once a patentee relinquishes rights after an opposition, competitors are free to design around a much smaller fence, and in this case the reported outcome removes the fence entirely.

The bigger picture

This is a quiet but telling data point on where the pouch market's competition has moved. The fight is no longer just shelf space and flavor lineups — it's over the delivery technology itself, and the battles are being fought in European patent offices as much as in US convenience stores. Expect more challenges in both directions: BAT and Philip Morris each hold portfolios of pouch-related filings, and each has every incentive to test the other's.

SOURCES:

• Law360, "Philip Morris Gives Up Snus Patent Amid BAT Challenge," Jamie Lennox, September 30, 2026: https://www.law360.co.uk/articles/2531810/philip-morris-gives-up-snus-patent-amid-bat-challenge