General Cigar Mulls Appeal of Cohiba Ruling

General Cigar loses in latest chapter of 17-year Cohiba trademark dispute.

BY JOACHIM BAMRUD

US-based General Cigar, one of the largest cigar manufacturers in the world, is evaluating an appeal of a recent court ruling that could end its right to sell Cohiba cigars in the United States.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit -- the only appellate level court with the jurisdiction to hear patent case appeals -- on June 4 reversed a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB) dismissing Cuba-based Cubatabaco’s petition to cancel General Cigar’s registrations of the Cohiba trademark.

Cuba has produced cigars under the same brand since 1966. General Cigar registered the trademark in the United States in 1981 and sold Cohiba cigars in the United States from 1978 to 1987 and then again after 1992, when the magazine Cigar Aficionado boosted interest in brands such as Cohiba.

“General Cigar firmly disagrees ...


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Keywords: Altadis, Cuba, Cubatabaco, DLA Piper, Dominican Republic, General Cigar, Habanos,  H. Upmann, Montecristo, Partagas, Punch, Rabinowitz Boudin Standard Krinsky & Lieberman, Romeo y Julieta