Clean
- Thread starter mpieniaz
- Start date
Benzopyrene
BoM June 08
I think the Ashton San Cristobal name has been resolved, but dont quote me on it. I just remeber their rep saying they had some issues with the cubans when they were releasing it. But it got sorted out...
One more thing, prior to the Aquisition of Altadis by Imperial Tobacco, Altadis owned a portion of Habanos SA. It was a issue during the acquisition and I'm not sure what happen to this during the acquisition, but I'm sure someone this board does.
I would hope they could just all keep their same names and you would just know if your Montecristo was made in Cuba or not by checking the box/bands/store. Who knows if every single B&M is gonna get habanos, or if they're gonna do a LCdH-style deal where you can pretty much only get 'em at authorized locations.
But yeah, as for the brand thing, I mean, if you go to Europe, you can buy Cuban and non-Cuban Montecristos, right? So in a sense I would hope they could just share the names and not get confused. If you did get confused then you're an idiot anyway!
TYLER
But yeah, as for the brand thing, I mean, if you go to Europe, you can buy Cuban and non-Cuban Montecristos, right? So in a sense I would hope they could just share the names and not get confused. If you did get confused then you're an idiot anyway!
TYLER
Fun post to read. The one think I didn't pick up on in the thread is that the notion that Cuba "owns" the trademarks might not exactly be true.
Post revolution brands like Cohiba and Trinidad are certainly owned by Cuba, and once the embargo is gone, the General will be on thin ice.
Pre revolution trademarks are not so definite. Remember, if you were Mr Montecristo (made up), you plantation, factory, and name were STOLEN from you when the gov't nationalized. So don't assume the courts would just automatically grant ownership to Cuba.
Post revolution brands like Cohiba and Trinidad are certainly owned by Cuba, and once the embargo is gone, the General will be on thin ice.
Pre revolution trademarks are not so definite. Remember, if you were Mr Montecristo (made up), you plantation, factory, and name were STOLEN from you when the gov't nationalized. So don't assume the courts would just automatically grant ownership to Cuba.
I would have to disagree with your point, since the trademark is currenty owned by General and just because cuba owns it outside the US doesn't mean they will own it inside the US.
If I remember right Habanos SA has sued General already for this and the court have ruled in Generals favor claiming that Cuba has no legal ground to lay claim to anything in the US. Therefore the courts will look an see who legally owned the trademark first, and in this case it would be General since Cuba has no current legal rights in the US. This is my prediction, but most likely if Habanos SA thinks selling Cohibas and Trinidads will be profitible enough, they will try to purchase the trademark from General.
Cubatabaco, the government-run company in charge of cigars, half-owner of Habanos SA, along with Altadis SA, promptly began a campaign to have General Cigar's trademark revoked and numerous legal battles ensued that were partly resolved on 19 June 2006, when the U. S. Supreme Court denied Cubatabco's petition. As a result, the February 2005 decision of the U. S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (Docket #04-2527), which confirmed General Cigar Companys exclusive ownership of the Cohiba trademark in the United States, is final and is law of the case. The General Cigar-made Cohiba cigars now have a disclaimer on boxes that they are not affiliated in any way with the Cuban brand.
However, the United States government, in an amicus curiae brief filed in the Supreme Court, acknowledged that Cubatabaco could request U.S. government permission for judicial protection of the brand from the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers the U.S. blockade. Cubatabaco has stated that they intend to pursue this course of action.
The above is from Wiki.
I'm no lawyer, but I think the judge basically said to Cuba "dude, you're and embargoed nation and have no rights". When/if the embargo is lifted, and free trade is the desire of both nations, it's just my opinion that the US gov't won't say, "never mind that you could not register a trademark, but too bad you didn't register". Time will tell
Regardless of what the final resolution will be, the possibilities are endless.
However, the United States government, in an amicus curiae brief filed in the Supreme Court, acknowledged that Cubatabaco could request U.S. government permission for judicial protection of the brand from the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers the U.S. blockade. Cubatabaco has stated that they intend to pursue this course of action.
The above is from Wiki.
I'm no lawyer, but I think the judge basically said to Cuba "dude, you're and embargoed nation and have no rights". When/if the embargo is lifted, and free trade is the desire of both nations, it's just my opinion that the US gov't won't say, "never mind that you could not register a trademark, but too bad you didn't register". Time will tell
Regardless of what the final resolution will be, the possibilities are endless.
Aside from the legal issues I think we are looking at only a piece of the puzzle. Even if the embargo is lifted will you be able to get any cuban tobacco?
We are talking about a nation that knows little to nothing about the future it faces in the western hemisphere. The change over could be violent and swift, and maybe even including intervention by other western hemisphere powers to stabilize the island. Will the cuban cigar industry still be there if their is a revolution? Maybe the change over will be slow enough that the tobacco industry will remain on its feet. When was the last time, other than the unification of Germany, that a marxist based nation comfortably slid into another socialistic or democratic program?
We are talking about a nation that knows little to nothing about the future it faces in the western hemisphere. The change over could be violent and swift, and maybe even including intervention by other western hemisphere powers to stabilize the island. Will the cuban cigar industry still be there if their is a revolution? Maybe the change over will be slow enough that the tobacco industry will remain on its feet. When was the last time, other than the unification of Germany, that a marxist based nation comfortably slid into another socialistic or democratic program?