COHIBA is CUBAN!

The COHIBA Brand is CUBAN

COHIBA BRAND is CUBAN

By Prensa Latina

Cuba won a new victory in the nearly 30-year long legal battle over Cohiba, its flagship cigar brand, after a U.S. federal judge ruled in favor of the Cubans once again.

The verdict is the result of a lawsuit filed in February 2023 by General Cigar Company vs. the Cuban Tobacco Company, known as Cubatabaco.

General sought to overturn a decision made by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAH) in 2022, which ruled to cancel the registration of General's Cohiba trademark in the United States.

But this Wednesday, General - which sells versions of the famous brand in the United States - lost the case.

Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of U.S. 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 magistrate, Cubatabaco's Cohiba was protected by the Inter-American Convention (CIH), a 1929 law that protects international brands.

These cigars - valued among the best in the world - Cuba cannot legally sell them in U.S. territory due to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington on the Caribbean country more than six decades ago.

Cubatabaco, owner of the Cohiba name and the rights to market it internationally, challenged the legality of U.S. 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 the registration on May 31, 1972.  Almost six years later, on March 13, 1978, General Cigar made a similar request before U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which was issued on February 17, 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, an idea that the court rejected.

Source

Cuba slashes tobacco acreage amid flagging demand

By Marc Frank:

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Cash-short Cuba is slashing the amount of land devoted to growing its famous tobacco by more than 30 percent as the global recession and worldwide spread of smoking bans bite into sales of the country's prized cigars.

Demand for Cuba's cigars fell 3 percent in 2008 and earlier was reported down 15 percent in 2009 because of the recession and the smoking bans adopted in a growing number of places as a public health measure.

Cuba's National Statistics Office, in a report posted on its web page (www.one.cu), said land to be planted with tobacco for next year's crop had dropped to 49,000 acres, down from 70,000 acres, which was in turn less than 2008.

It said the coming crop was expected to be 22,500 tons, down from a planned 26,800 tons. The office blamed the drop on "financial restrictions that made it impossible to count on the necessary resources."

Cuba's prized cigar brands, including Cohiba, Montecristo, Trinidad and Partagas, dominate the world's premium market with 70 percent of sales.

That jealously guarded market share excludes the United States, however, where Cuba's cigars are banned under the 47-year-old US trade embargo against the communist-led island.

A representative of the exclusive distributor of Cuban cigars, Habanos S.A., a joint venture between Cuba and British tobacco giant Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, said the company had no comment on the statistics office report.

Some 200,000 private farmers and their families depend on growing and curing the precious leaf under contract with the government, and tens of thousands of workers earn their living hand rolling the crop into the famous "Habanos" or "Puros" for export.

Tobacco seedlings are currently being readied for planting from November through January, with harvesting of the quick growing leaf beginning 45 days later. After that a year-long process of drying and curing begins.

Cuba's dozens of cigar rolling factories have operated at well below capacity this year.

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