(Reuters) - A U.S. trade tribunal sided with Juul Labs on Wednesday and ordered a ban on imports of vaping devices and cartridges made by Altria's ( MO ) NJOY - at least some of which are made in China and Malaysia - in a patent dispute over e-cigarette technology.

The U.S. International Trade Commission found that NJOY's ACE devices violated Juul's patent rights in vaporizer innovations. As a result of the decision, an import ban on the devices will take effect unless the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Republican President Donald Trump's new administration does not overturn it for public policy reasons.