On May 7, 2025, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in favor of Cubatabaco in the litigation General Cigar Co., Inc. filed challenging the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s cancellation of its US trademark registrations for the COHIBA mark for cigars. This is the most recent development in the dispute between Cubatabaco and General Cigar Co. which started in the mid-1990s.
Régis Broersma, Chief Commercial Officer of Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the owner of General Cigar Co. says: “We are of course disappointed by this decision, but we and our advisors will now study the ruling closely and of course consider the opportunity to appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Our federal trademark registrations which are the subject of the dispute, would remain valid and enforceable during a pending appeal. We expect the long dispute to continue before the courts.”
The district court ruling deals with the federal trademark registrations and does not impact General Cigar Co.’s common law trademark rights based on its long use of the COHIBA mark on its cigars marketed and sold in the US. These trademark rights remain valid and enforceable irrespective of the current dispute. And importantly, General Cigar’s COHIBA cigars are available to US consumers as they have been for nearly 50 years.
Cubatabaco, the Cuban-state parent of Habanos S.A., owns the rights to the Cohiba name everywhere outside of the United States where the Cuban-made Cohiba is perhaps one of the most famous and sought after cigar brands in the entire world.
