GERMAN COURT: NON-CUBAN COMPANIES PREVENTED FROM USING “HABANO” & “CUBANO”

[Jaks93]

Habanos S.A., the Cuban cigar giant, says that it has won the legal fight over whether its competitors are allowed to use terms like “habano” and “cubano” in Germany to describe their products.

The legal dispute started in 2020 when the company went to a court in Munich to argue that other companies’ use of the terms like “habano” and “cubano”—the latter as part of a seed varietal known as piloto cubano—violated the geographical indications—alternatively known as geographical appellations—protections that the country enjoys for cigars. The question is whether German law would allow for a company to use terms like Cuba—or its derivatives—and Habana—or its derivatives—to describe a cigar that was not made in Cuba.

While the court records have not been released, Habanos S.A. says that it has been victorious in various lower courts in Munich. Most recently, the Bundesgerichtshof—Germany’s highest civil court—upheld the previous rulings.

What this means remains to be seen, but it’s likely that other companies will stop using words like cubano, cubra, and habano on both packaging and marketing materials in Germany. Whether a non-Cuban cigar company manufacturer realizes it may be running afoul of the German court rulings is one thing, but the German importers and distributors are likely to be keenly aware of the issue, especially as Habanos S.A. is known for being litigious.

Even in the United States, where it cannot sell its products due to the embargo against Cuban goods, Habanos S.A. has been involved in many legal disputes over names and trademarks. Most notably, for more than 25 years, the company has been embroiled in legal disputes with General Cigar Co. over the Cohiba trademark in the U.S. That fight remains ongoing. It has also gone after companies, like XIKAR, for trying to register the name “Havana Collection.”

[El Presidente]

Habanos S.A., the Cuban cigar giant, says that it has won the legal fight over whether its competitors are allowed to use terms like “habano” and “cubano” in Germany to describe their products.

CONTINUED

[MrBirdman]

Eh, may be for the best in the end. I feel as though the NC industry’s frequent allusions to Cuba are a relic of the days when NC were widely regarded as inferior imitations, even in America. And, as the Sixers parking attendant told my father when offered a bribe to park in the VIP lot, “those days are over!”

[jazzboypro]

1 hour ago, MrBirdman said:

Eh, may be for the best in the end. I feel as though the NC industry’s frequent allusions to Cuba are a relic of the days when NC were widely regarded as inferior imitations, even in America. And, as the Sixers parking attendant told my father when offered a bribe to park in the VIP lot, “those days are over!”

I partly agree. NC's are not inferior imitations but taste-wise I am not aware of ANY NC's that comes close (not even a bit) to a CC, so I kind of agree with the German court.

[Ford2112]

I wonder if brands like Aroma de Cuba will be next in line.

[MrBirdman]

4 hours ago, jazzboypro said:

I partly agree. NC's are not inferior imitations but taste-wise I am not aware of ANY NC's that comes close (not even a bit) to a CC, so I kind of agree with the German court.

Fair enough, though the court isn’t judging them on taste. It’s strictly a trademarking issue. Ultimately NC are not for everyone but they have certainly attained a level of quality now that allows them to compete with CC and stand on their own two feet. 

[Fugu]

13 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

I wonder if brands like Aroma de Cuba will be next in line.

Ever been marketed as La Aroma del Caribe for most outside US of A. 😉 😁

[BoliDan]

On 4/20/2024 at 9:05 AM, Ford2112 said:

I wonder if brands like Aroma de Cuba will be next in line.

I've always hated that name. It's one of the brands that uses "Cuba" and isn't completely horrid, but using the country for an NC is off-putting. Like, shameless marketing to Americans that don't know how to access CCs. I think this makes sense with laws that preserve things like Scotch, Bourbon, Cognac etc. regionally. Same can be said for putting a completely different country on your brand.

 

Granted nothing is more despicable than these:

[jazzboypro]

21 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

Fair enough, though the court isn’t judging them on taste. It’s strictly a trademarking issue. Ultimately NC are not for everyone but they have certainly attained a level of quality now that allows them to compete with CC and stand on their own two feet. 

Again I agree about the quality of NC's and I do smoke a lot of NC's however using the term "Habano" and/or "Cubano" is somewhat misleading as there is nothing Cuban about them in my opinion. 

[Ford2112]

8 hours ago, BoliDan said:

Granted nothing is more despicable than these:

Yeah but it's a taste of Havana 🤣🤢🤮. When I saw these in a B&M I  couldn't believe it what a travesty.

[Chas.Alpha]

8 hours ago, BoliDan said:

Granted nothing is more despicable than these:

Hey! I did a weekly review on those!!!

…but they looked like Cohiba? 😔

I’m going to argue a point; as I pointed out in my review, there is a certain something about these that reminded me of Havana. Leaded gasoline exhaust, 3 day old street grilled iguana and cat pee. Those were the predominant flavors, as I recall. 🙂

[AusDyer]

On 4/19/2024 at 10:23 PM, jazzboypro said:

I partly agree. NC's are not inferior imitations but taste-wise I am not aware of ANY NC's that comes close (not even a bit) to a CC, so I kind of agree with the German court.

I completely agree. The new wave of NC branding is trying to make everyone think great Cuban cigars are nothing but imaginary and "nostalgia". It's simply not true at all, because anyone who's had great examples of the top Cuban vitolas knows full well they are entrancing and exceptional, and no NCs even come close. There are, however, plenty of inferior batches of tobacco and inferior rollers used to crank out the numbers, and that is what most people, especially buying from dodgy online retailers in the US, will try. If all I ever tried were a bunch of the bad Cuban cigars I've had in my time, I would think they were overrated nonsense too.

Sadly, the art of the great Cuban cigar is being killed off by big business and ignorance in charge of Cuba and it's industry now. Many NCs are far better than they were 10-15 years ago and I enjoy plenty myself, but most NCs are either thoroughly bland or utterly unbalanced with excessive harshness, bitterness and spice for me. American-owned businesses are trying to take over and dominate the market now, and online opinionizing and arguing about Cuban cigars is part of that attempt. The fact remains though that Cuban tobacco has the potential to be the best in the world, and if Padrón, for example, were able to blend with great tobaccos from Vuela Abajo, everyone would be creaming themselves over the gorgeous complex and nuances deliciousness they'd be able to produce.

Somehow big business needs to get back to some kind of passionate care and respect for their products, because it's being killed off almost completely at this point. Maybe billionaires will have a small supply of incredible Havanas available to them in future but nobody else will. I love a Padrón 2000 natural myself (even those can be up and down in quality and are by no means super consistent in blend and complexity), but even the best of them still just don't have anything like the mouth-watering creamy pure richness, sweet tang and delicate subtleties that even just a properly blended and rolled D4 or aged PLPC have.

[JohnnyO]

So what will they do with Cuban Sandwiches, Cafe Cubano, Cuban crackers, Cuban Cookies, Cuban yo-yo's, Habanese Dogs, Habanero peppers etc? John