Australian High Court has dismissed claims by tobacco companies that the government illegally seized their intellectual property by barring the display of trademarks on packs and gave its approval to go ahead with a ban on color cigarette packaging.
Cigarettes and tobacco products are required to be sold in plain olive green packets with graphic health warnings including pictures of mouth cancer and other smoking-related illnesses, starting 1 December 2012, as per the court's decision.
The new laws require cigarettes to be sold without company logos and have the same font for all brands on a dark brown background. Graphic health warnings will cover 90% of the back of the packaging and 70% of the front.
The new laws are being observed by countries including Britain, Norway, New Zealand, Canada and India, which are planning to implement similar measures to help fight smoking are in accordance with the recommendations of World Health Organisation (WHO).
British American Tobacco, Britain's Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco claimed that the rules were unconstitutional.
