Cuba accuses US of backing illegal use of cigar trademark

Cuba accuses US of backing illegal use of cigar trademark
Xinhua | 2013-4-2 10:32:40
By Agencies

Cuba has accused the United States of backing the "outright theft" of a
Cuban cigar trademark as part of its 50-year embargo against the
Caribbean island, the official website Cubadebate said Monday.

The accusation was filed after a US federal commission ruled last week
that the US company General Cigar can continue to use the Cohiba brand
name to market its cigars in the United States.

"It is the most recent verdict in an almost 16-year legal battle between
both cigar companies over that brand, which belongs to Cuba," Cubadebate
said.

In 2009, Cuba's state-owned cigar maker Cubatabaco, a partner with the
French-Spanish firm Altadis, won a lawsuit against the US company for
using the Cohiba brand inside the United States, but General Cigar
appealed against that ruling.

The US Trials and Appeals Committee on Trademarks ruled that since
Cubatabaco cannot sell its cigars in the United States due to the US
economic sanctions against Cuba, the Cuban firm cannot litigate its case
there, Cubadebate reported.

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