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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