Empresa Cubana Del Tabaco (d/b/a Cubatabaco) v. General
Cigar Co., Inc.
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's (the Board) decision,
holding that a Cuban cigar manufacturer's standing to pursue
cancellation of two federal registrations was not barred in light
of a prior decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit, which held that the Cuban Assets Control Regulations
(CACR) precluded the Cuban company from owning the marks at
issue. Empresa Cubana Del Tabaco (d/b/a Cubatabaco) v.
General Cigar Co., Inc., Case No. 13-1465 (Fed. Cir., June 4,
2014) (Rader, J.).
The plaintiff, Cubatabaco, is a Cuban entity that owns the
COHIBA mark in Cuba for use in connection with cigars. The
defendant, General Cigar, owns two trademark registrations for the
mark COHIBA for use in connection with cigars.
