International arbitration court rejects challenge to Australia cigarette logo ban

Tobacco giant Philip Morris has suffered another setback in its efforts to challenge an Australian law that bans tobacco companies from placing logos on their cigarette packs and forces them instead to feature graphic health warnings. Hong Kong-based Philip Morris Asia Ltd., which had argued Australia’s law constitutes a sweeping ban on trademarks, said on Friday that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore determined that it had no jurisdiction to hear the tobacco company’s case.