Appeals Court Confirms General Cigar's Ownership of Cohiba Trademark in the U.S.
Cubatabaco Vows to Appeal, Claiming Battle isn't Over
General Cigar Co. has won back its ownership of the Cohiba trademark in the U.S. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled in February in favor of General Cigar Co., Inc. in a lawsuit filed by Cubatabaco in 1997 over trademark ownership of the Cohiba brand in the United States.
The Second Circuit held that "General Cigar's legal right to the Cohiba mark has been established as against Cubatabaco. General Cigar has a right to use the mark in the United States because it owns the mark in the United States."
As a result of the ruling, General Cigar will be able to continue to manufacture the Cohiba brand and market it in the U.S.
General Cigar received its first registration of the Cohiba trademark in the U.S. in 1981, and again in 1992. The company has sold its Dominican Cohiba cigar in the U.S. since the early 1980s.
Cubatabaco filed this lawsuit against General Cigar in 1997, claiming rights to the Cohiba name in the U.S., nearly two decades after General Cigar first applied for registration.
"We always believed we owned the U.S. rights to the brand and are pleased that the appeals court ruled in our favor," said Edgar M. Cullman, Jr., president and c.e.o. of General Cigar.
"Now that a federal court has confirmed our rights to the Cohiba brand, we intend to focus our attention on violation of our trademark by sellers of counterfeit Cohiba cigars sold in the U.S., " promised Cullman.
April, 2005
from:
http://www.smokeshopmag.com/0405/signals.htm
