U.K. Court Strikes Down Tobacco Industry Challenge to Plain Packaging

LONDON—A legal challenge by the tobacco industry against plain packaging in the U.K. has failed, opening the door for cigarette packs to be stripped of branding across the country and setting a precedent for other countries in Europe.

Starting Friday, any cigarettes produced for sale in the U.K. will have to follow plain-packaging rules under which cigarettes will be sold in uniform packs stripped of distinctive logos and colors,...