Cohiba vs Cohiba (Cuba vs USA) Supreme Court stuff inside

variant2

The US supreme court on Monday handed victory to a state-run Cuban cigar company in its long-running standoff with an American arch rival.

The highest court in the United States declined to hear the appeal of the Delaware-based General Cigar, leaving intact a ruling in favour of Cuba’s Empresa Cubana del Tabaco, or Cubatabaco.

The decision comes two months after an announcement by President Barack Obama that Washington and Havana will seek to normalize relations, including the easing of a decades-long trade embargo with Cuba.

The hard-fought case concerns cigars with the famous Cohiba trademark that both companies use.

LINK TO THE SOURCE

Chemnitz

Thanks for the link! I have been wondering what would happen in this battle. Now to see if this will carry over to the other big cuban cigar brandnames.

Gray4lines

Chemnitz:

Thanks for the link! I have been wondering what would happen in this battle. Now to see if this will carry over to the other big cuban cigar brandnames.

Cohiba is probably the easiest call. Originally a Cuban brand, this is the only one that really was ripped off from Cuba. All the others, the brand creators fled Cuba and took the names of the companies they created.

Chemnitz

Gray4lines:

Chemnitz:

Thanks for the link! I have been wondering what would happen in this battle. Now to see if this will carry over to the other big cuban cigar brandnames.

Cohiba is probably the easiest call. Originally a Cuban brand, this is the only one that really was ripped off from Cuba. All the others, the brand creators fled Cuba and took the names of the companies they created.

Ok, thanks for this. I'd be interested in reading more about this if anyone has a link to more details on cuban cigar history and the development of the different brand names.

Hays

Gray4lines:

Chemnitz:

Thanks for the link! I have been wondering what would happen in this battle. Now to see if this will carry over to the other big cuban cigar brandnames.

Cohiba is probably the easiest call. Originally a Cuban brand, this is the only one that really was ripped off from Cuba. All the others, the brand creators fled Cuba and took the names of the companies they created.

Not actually true - through a loophole in regulation (put through by Clinton, I think), Habanos S.A. has been legally allowed to register and pursue trademarks in the US for a couple decades. Also, someone recently pointed out to me (I can't remember who though, sorry) that for a long time, Cuban cigars WERE legal in the US, so it would not be outside the realm of reason to suppose that their original trademark rights *filed or not* would be possible to retrieve upon their re-entry to the US market.

Gray4lines

I don't think the question is whether the Cuban brand was ever sold in the US, but rather after the revolution when the brand creators fled with their brand name (and subsequently sold the rights to US companies like General) and Cuba simultaneously claimed the brand as their own. I am not knowledgeable on copyright and trademark law, but I believe "confusion in the marketplace " by consumers is one factor that may constitute a lawsuit. So there could still be a questions of who owns the brand And who is infringing who.

Hays you are probably right about the habanos sa. And Clinton regs, I do not know about that at all.

variant2

Either way, in light of the recent Cuba / USA relation events, the timing and intent of this ruling seems like future indicator that will favor Habanos SA and its portfolio.

90+_Irishman

variant2:

Either way, in light of the recent Cuba / USA relation events, the timing and intent of this ruling seems like future indicator that will favor Habanos SA and its portfolio.

Agreed, it's more than suspicious that this was laid to bed at nearly the same time that Cuba/USA relations start to make real strides for the first time since the Cuban Missle Crisis and Embargo start. I don't think that's an accident and even if Cuba had nothing to do with cigars I am glad to see the first steps to getting rid of this outdated and silly (at this point at least and my opinion only) embargo. Seems almost like its the children of feuding families hating the other simply because they are a Hatfield or a McCoy... GTF over it already and move on. It's been nearly 60 years for christsake.