As reported in a March 11 article in The Japan Times, Japan Tobacco Inc.’s Canadian unit was granted creditor protection by the Ontario Superior Court after a legal defeat. Japan Tobacco Canada’s unit, as well as the Canadian units of British American Tobacco Plc and Philip Morris International Inc., were ordered to pay damages of roughly C$17 billion after losing an appeal in a class action suit filed by a group of Québec smokers. Japan Tobacco claims it does not have the capacity to pay damages. The lawsuit stems from a 1998 case where smokers claimed they were not warned by tobacco companies about the dangers of addiction and smoking-related illnesses.