Philip Morris Asks High Court to Declare Cigarette Plain Packaging Unconstitutional

Philip Morris ramped up on Tuesday its legal battle against Australia's planned cigarette plain packaging laws that the giant tobacco company said will rob its of its intellectual property rights.

Once it takes effect December next year, the new legislation will require cigarette makers in Australia to uniformly package their products that will do away with brand names and instead focus on their health hazards.

The ploy, according to Canberra, should discourage more Australians to quit the habit, which the government admits delivers billions to the national treasury but costs more in terms health services expenditures.

Philip Morris has previously indicated that it will seek arbitration on the bits and pieces of the new measures, adding up to the legal challengers earlier filed by British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco.

Lodging their complaints before the Australian High Court, the two giant tobacco companies argued that the new government policy will violate their trademark properties and constitutional rights.

The same is now being claimed by Philip Morris, which according to Reuters provide employment to more 800 Australians and control some 37 percent of the local cigarette market.

In a statement, Philip Morris spokesman Chris Argent said that the new laws would empower the Australian government to prevent the company from using its "valuable brands and intellectual property without offering compensation."

"We believe plain packaging violates the Australian Constitution because the Government is seeking to acquire our property without paying compensation," Argent was quoted by Reuters as saying.

However, Canberra rejected the arguments behind the legal challenges against its anti-smoking policy, with new Attorney-General Nicola Roxon insisting that "big tobacco is fighting against the government for one very simple reason because it knows that plain packaging will work."

"While (they are) fighting to protect profits, we are fighting to protect lives," Roxon added as reported by Reuters.

Many legal experts observed that the looming legal showdown will end up as a rousing victory for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, citing established legal tenets that allow governments to set aside property rights in order to preserve public health.