Cuba won a new victory in the nearly 30-year long legal battle over Cohiba, its flagship Havana cigar brand, after a US federal judge ruled in favour of the Cubans, again.
The verdict is the result of a lawsuit filed in February 2023 by General Cigar Company vs Empresa Cubana Del Tabaco, known as Cubatabaco.
General sought to overturn a decision made by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in 2022, which ruled to cancel the registration of General’s Cohiba trademark in the United States.
But on Wednesday, General – which sells versions of the famous brand in the US – lost the case.
Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia upheld the TTAB’s decision three years ago, a matter in dispute in the courts since the William Clinton administration (1993-2001).
According to the judge, Cubatabaco’s Cohiba was protected by the Inter-American Convention (IAC), a 1929 law that protects international trademarks.
These cigars – rated among the best in the world – Cuba cannot legally sell them on US soil due to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington on the Caribbean country more than six decades ago.
Cubatabaco, which owns the Cohiba name and the rights to market it internationally, challenged the legality of the US trademark and filed the first lawsuit in January 1997, the year the litigation began.
Cubatabaco applied for the Cohiba trademark in September 1969 and obtained registration on 31 May 1972. Almost six years later, on 13 March 1978, General Cigar made a similar request to the US Patent and Trademark Office, which was issued on 17 February 1981, the legal document states.
One of General Cigar’s main arguments in the lawsuit was the claim that Cuba allowed the Cohiba trademark to lapse for lack of use in the 1970s, a notion the court rejected.
An article published in Forbes magazine in 1977 reveals the existence of Cohiba even then, but in commercial form it was launched in 1982.
‘Because General Cigar had knowledge of Cubatabaco’s use of Cohiba for cigars in Cuba, the Court finds that the TTAB validly cancelled General Cigar’s registration under Section 8 of the IAC,’ the finding stated.
General has a 2023 appeal pending before the TTAB that has not yet been resolved and a statement issued after the ruling said it will consider appealing the 7 May decision.
‘Of course we are disappointed by this decision,’ said Régis Broersma, chief commercial officer of Scandinavian Tobacco Group, owner of General Cigar Co, ‘but we and our advisors will study the ruling carefully and will of course consider appealing (…)’.
Cohiba, created in 1966, was the first cigar brand born after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Its name, which refers to an instrument used by the island’s aborigines to light tobacco leaves, is synonymous with excellence.
