Cuba prevails in cigar trademark battle

[El Presidente]

Cuba prevails in cigar trademark battle

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Cuban state-owned cigar company Cubatabaco prevailed in its three-decade-long trademark battle with Delaware’s General Cigar Company over the name Cohiba. The trademark board correctly canceled General Cigar’s trademarks because Cubatabaco met its burden to show that it enjoyed legal protection of its mark in Cuba prior to General Cigar’s registration applications in the U.S., and that the U.S. firm knew about Cubatabaco’s use of its mark in Cuba before it applied to register the mark.

RULING

[BrightonCorgi]

Good for Cubatabaco. It wasn't right, General Cigar using that name.

[LordAnubis]

At this point, the Cuban Cohiba is doing more harm to the red dot than it is doing good! 😂

[JohnS]

General Cigar Co. Response to Recent US Court Ruling on COHIBA Trademark

 May 16, 2025 - Press Release

On May 7, 2025, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in favor of Cubatabaco in the litigation General Cigar Co., Inc. filed challenging the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s cancellation of its US trademark registrations for the COHIBA mark for cigars. This is the most recent development in the dispute between Cubatabaco and General Cigar Co. which started in the mid-1990s.

Régis Broersma, Chief Commercial Officer of Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the owner of General Cigar Co. says: “We are of course disappointed by this decision, but we and our advisors will now study the ruling closely and of course consider the opportunity to appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Our federal trademark registrations which are the subject of the dispute, would remain valid and enforceable during a pending appeal.  We expect the long dispute to continue before the courts.”

The district court ruling deals with the federal trademark registrations and does not impact General Cigar Co.’s common law trademark rights based on its long use of the COHIBA mark on its cigars marketed and sold in the US. These trademark rights remain valid and enforceable irrespective of the current dispute. And importantly, General Cigar’s COHIBA cigars are available to US consumers as they have been for nearly 50 years.

Source: https://www.cigarjournal.com/gcc-response-to-recent-us-court-ruling-on-cohiba-trademark/

[ha_banos]

I don't understand. GC can still use Cohiba and even if their appeals fail, they still can do so under common law?

They just can't register it as a trademark? 

Legal is always so confusing and not clear to me. 

 

 

[El Presidente]

13 hours ago, ha_banos said:

I don't understand. GC can still use Cohiba and even if their appeals fail, they still can do so under common law?

They just can't register it as a trademark? 

Legal is always so confusing and not clear to me.

It is bullshit indeed.