The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (TTAB) ruled last December 20 in favor of the Cuban Tobacco Company (Cubatabaco), after decades of struggle for the rights of the Cuban trademark Cohiba, which had been appropriated by the General Cigar company in the northern nation.
The company Habanos S.A., world leader in the commercialization of Cuban Premium tobacco (fully hand-rolled), including Cohiba, celebrated the ruling in a press release sent to Granma.
The TTAB has ordered the cancellation of Cohiba's registrations by General Cigar Company in the U.S. territory, following legal proceedings initiated by Cubatabaco.
The U.S. court found that General Cigar, a U.S. company, knew that Cohiba was the name of a Cuban cigar when it first applied to register the trademark in March 1978.
Among other evidence, the Board pointed to internal memos in General Cigar's files discovered by Cubatabaco, which indicated that Cohiba was already "a trademark in Cuba."
Under the Inter-American Convention for the Protection of Trademarks and Trade Names (1929), to which both Cuba and the United States are parties, countries are required to refuse or cancel a registration when the applicant, in this case General Cigar, knew that the mark was already in use in another treaty country. Despite that reality, General Cigar has been selling cigars in the U.S. under the well-known Cohiba name.
Cubatabaco's fight for Cohiba's rights in the neighboring nation dates back more than 25 years, when it first filed a proceeding before the TTAB in 1997.
The litigation between Cubatabaco and General Cigar included lengthy proceedings in the federal courts, as well as before the Court of Trademark and Patent Office.
The ruling thus opens the way for Cubatabaco to register the Cohiba trademark in the U.S., while General Cigar has the right to appeal the ruling.
Translated by ESTI
