Brief outline of the history of E-cigarettes:

The earliest electronic cigarette can be traced to Herbert A. Gilbert, who in 1963 patented
a device described as "a smokeless non-tobacco cigarette" that involved "replacing
burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air". This device heated the nicotine
solution and produced steam. It was never commercialized.
See this link for the patent:
http://www.google.com.ph/patents/US3200819

Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist, is credited with the invention of the electronic cigarette. In
2003, he came up with the idea of using apiezoelectric ultrasound-emitting element to
vaporise a pressurized jet of liquid containing nicotine diluted in a propylene glycol solution.
This design produces a smoke-like vapour that can be inhaled and provides a vehicle for
nicotine delivery into the bloodstream via the lungs. He also proposed using propylene
glycol to dilute nicotine and placing it in a disposable plastic cartridge which serves as a
liquid reservoir and mouthpiece.
Electronic cigarettes using a different design were first introduced to the Chinese domestic
market in May 2004 as an aid for smoking cessation and replacement. The company that
Hon Lik worked for, Golden Dragon Holdings, changed its name to Ruyan, and
started exporting its products in 20052006 before receiving its first international
patent in 2007.
See this link for the patent:
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=WO&NR=20
04080216A1&KC=A1&FT=D&ND=3&date=20040923&DB=worldwide.espacenet.com&l
ocale=en_EP

E-cigarette devices are predominately manufactured in China. The e-cigarette brands have
been rapidly expanding using aggressive marketing campaigns similar to those used to
popularize cigarettes in the 1950s and 1960s. Long banned comparative advertising for
cigarettes and other tobacco products, e-cigarette advertising on television and radio in a
number of countries may be indirectly advocating traditional cigarette smoking.

Improvements made on E-cigarettes:
The electronic cigarette continued to evolve from the first generation three-part device. In
2006 the "cartomizer" was invented by British entrepreneurs Umer and Tariq Sheikh of
XL Distributors. This is a mechanism which integrates the heating coil into the liquid
chamber. The new device was launched in the UK in 2007 in their Gamucci brand and is
now widely adopted by the majority of 'cigalike' brands. The grant of the UK patent for the
"cartomizer" was made to XL Distributors in February 2013 and published by the UK
Intellectual Property Office.
See this link for patent:
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?FT=D&date=2013
0320&DB=worldwide.espacenet.com&locale=en_EP&CC=GB&NR=2465247B&KC=B&
ND=4

In February 9, 2009, Eli Taieb patented his E-Cigarette With Vitamin Infusion. A
smokeless cigarette that provides for the dispensation of vitamins to the user by way of a
vitamin infused cartridge whereby a liquid mixture of vitamins and/or botanicals are injected
into a liquid supplying bottle within the nicotine cartridge for inhalation and absorption by
the user.
See this link for patent:
https://www.google.com/patents/US20100200008?dq=electronic+cigarettes&hl=en&sa=
X&ei=SskqVIScCILMoATO6YG4Ag&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAw

In September 27, 2012, Robert Safari filed a patent application for his cartomizer e-cigarette.
It is an electronic cigarette with a battery unit and a cartomizer unit which includes a
cartomizer component which integrates a liquid chamber for receiving a liquid solution and
an atomization chamber disposed adjacent to the liquid chamber and separated therefrom by
a dividing wall, the dividing wall having a dividing wall opening formed therein, and a
guiding wick that extends through the dividing wall opening from the liquid chamber to the
atomization chamber to supply liquid solution from the liquid chamber to the atomization
chamber.
See this link for patent:
http://www.google.com/patents/US20130081642

In January 17, 2013, Mark Scatterday patented Aroma pack for an electronic cigarette.
The aroma pack comprises an aromatic insert, which is infused with a tobacco-like aroma,
located within a housing positioned inside the aroma pack. The aromatic insert emits the
scent of tobacco when the top cover of the pack is opened.
See this link for patent:
https://www.google.com/patents/US8794245?dq=electronic+cigarettes&hl=en&sa=X&ei
=SskqVIScCILMoATO6YG4Ag&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg

The international tobacco companies, recognising the development of a potential new
market sector that could render traditional tobacco products obsolete, are increasingly
involved in the production and marketing of their own brands of e-cigarettes and in
acquiring existing e-cigarette companies, Blu, a prominent US e-cigarette producer, was
acquired by Lorillard Inc. in 2012. British American Tobacco launched Vype in 2013,
while Imperial Tobacco's Fontem Ventures acquired the intellectual property owned by Hon
Lik through Dragonite for $US 75 million in 2013 and launched Puritane in partnership
with Boots UK. On October 1, 2013 Lorillard Inc. acquired another e-cigarette company,
this time a UK based company SKYCIG. On 3 February 2014, Altria Group, Inc. acquired
popular electronic cigarette brand Green Smoke for $110 million. The deal was finalized in
April 2014 for $110 million and $20 million in incentive payments. Altria also markets its
own e-cigarette, the MarkTen, while Reynolds American has entered the sector with its Vuse
product.