In the vape and tobacco world, Keller and Heckman, LLP is one of the most highly respected and recognized law firms. In 2017, the firm organized a symposium, gathering 12 attorneys and industry professionals for two days of information. The session was streamed live and videotaped for those that could not attend.

In early February, the DC firm held its second iteration of the E-Vapor and Tobacco Law Symposium. Topics included:

• Deeming rule updates from well-respected scientific advisers Cardo ChemRisk, who questioned whether PMTA would be viable for any company
• Business intellectual property and advertising, including the industry’s wide-scale copyright and infringement issues. Labeling and branding potentially geared toward children was also covered
• The Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) which rules the UK and many European countries, was discussed by several industry experts along with the nuances of the regulations.
• Other overseas markets were covered by Keller and Heckman partner David Ettinger, who came all the way from the Far East for the symposium. He provided updates on China, Australia and the Middle East.

Azim Chowdhury, the Keller and Heckman partner who developed this workshop, was enthused by the industry’s interest in such an event: “Last year we held this event for the first time and had about 20 attendees, which was all our DC conference room could hold. When we surveyed where we should hold this year’s event, Orange County ranked very high.” Many vape companies are based in Southern California, so this makes sense.

Still, Chowdhury was surprised by how much of a success the event ultimately was: “We expected a lot of interest,” he said, “but ended up selling out, which was a pleasant surprise.”

Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors – a vape industry consulting company for vape shops, eCommerce sites and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vape business podcast in the world with more than 1.3 M downloads.

Get a free copy of his book Vapreneur by clicking here

As a founding partner in the Vape Industry Business Exchange (VIBE) & CBDyoume.com, Norm is committed to supporting the vape space into this Brave New World.

Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.