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A federal antitrust lawsuit filed Thursday by Michigan-based cannabis supplier Redbud Roots Inc. has ignited fresh scrutiny on the closed cannabis vaporizer market, accusing Shenzhen Smoore Technology Co. Ltd. and several U.S. distributors of conspiring to fix prices and lock out competitors in a scheme that allegedly choked off fair market access and manipulated wholesale prices.

The complaint, which seeks class action status for all direct purchasers of the vaping devices, paints a picture of secret meetings, coordinated pricing tactics, and aggressive legal warfare—all orchestrated to give Smoore, a dominant Chinese manufacturer, an iron grip on a lucrative slice of the U.S. vape industry.

A Web of Wholesale Collusion

Redbud Roots alleges that Smoore, together with Jupiter Research LLC, Greenlane Holdings LLC, 3Win Corp., and CB Solutions, coordinated what amounts to a cartel in the cannabis vape supply chain.

Though these companies are technically unaffiliated—and therefore, under law, should be competitors—the lawsuit claims they agreed to set minimum wholesale prices, exchange customer data, and report on those who “cheated” the scheme.

According to the lawsuit, this collusion was anything but passive. Redbud claims the parties held in-person meetings to reaffirm their pact, and that Smoore itself acted as ringleader, enforcing compliance with security deposits that could be forfeited by dissenters. In essence, the market was policed from within.

Weaponized Litigation and Patent Misdirection

But the alleged conspiracy didn’t stop at price controls. Redbud says Smoore took a page from a corporate thriller, using litigation as a sword rather than a shield. Specifically, Smoore is accused of filing a baseless complaint at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2021, claiming that competitors infringed on three U.S. patents.

The catch? According to Redbud’s suit, Chief Administrative Law Judge Clark S. Cheney later found that many of the claims were unfounded, and one patent had been fraudulently obtained—a damning assertion in the high-stakes world of intellectual property.

Despite the judge’s findings, Smoore allegedly accomplished what it set out to do: drive competitors out of the market. Some settled, others signed consent orders. A few, Redbud claims, even agreed to stop competing entirely—effectively cementing the dominance of the alleged cartel.

Legal Claims and Industry Fallout

In its complaint, Redbud accuses the defendants of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act and is seeking treble damages, restitution, and a court-ordered injunction to halt further anti-competitive behavior.

The company is represented by Christopher L. Lebsock of Hausfeld LLP, a firm known for handling high-profile antitrust litigation.

The lawsuit lands at a time when the cannabis vaporizer market is booming but still maturing—a perfect storm for consolidation and coercive tactics. As Redbud’s legal battle unfolds, it could become a bellwether case for how competition law intersects with the explosive growth of cannabis tech.

Representatives for the defendants, as well as their legal counsel, were not immediately available for comment Friday.

In a rapidly evolving industry where innovation is key and barriers to entry remain steep, this lawsuit could either dismantle a secretive stronghold—or spark deeper questions about how competition truly functions in the vapor cloud of modern cannabis commerce.