Cuban Cigar Company Sues Michigan Cigar Shop

[akumushi]

Originally Posted by MarkinCA

That is exactly the direction I was thinking of, in that Mr. Houmani has been using the name "La Casa De La Habana" for the last 10 years, and has established precedent and/or ownership and use of the business name.

I'm sure if we have some BOTL's/SOTL's who's JD and expertise is in this area, some case law would be interesting for them to provide here on this thread...

La Casa De La Habana translates to "The House of Havana" and La Casa del Habano tranlates to "The House of the Havana Cigar."

La Casa Del Habano first opened in 1990, so, assuming Cubatobacco filed for a U.S. trademark then, they would still have precident, I don't think Altadis would have filed suit if they didn't have that trademark already registered, but time will tell as the case unfolds. I'm sure none of us are experts on the details of this case. Remember that this probably isn't going to be a suit filed by the Cuban Government directly, but most likely by Altadis/Habanos S.A., a company with legitimate business interests in the United States.
For me, the interesting part of this is not "oh how dare Cuba," but what is an obvious increase in activity by Altadis/Habanos S. A. in exercising their claim on U.S. trademarks. They clearly anticipate a lifting of the embargo, or they would not be putting out millions to lay out the economic and legal groundwork for the introduction of their product into the U.S. market, because that is what this case is really about. First, it was the Montecristo (Altadis) Vs. Tatuaje case, which they seemed to win a easy victory. This was a no brainer for them to start with because Altadis has been selling Dominican Montecristos in the U.S. for years and had a valid U.S. trademark before it bought Habanos. But now, they are going out on a limb by starting what will really be a make it or break it case for them. This case is a probe, testing to see if U.S. courts will uphold their interests in brands started by the Cuban government. If they lose this case, it is going to be very hard for them to hold onto a lot of their branding and trademarks when the embargo lifts. If they win this case, then expect many more lawsuits from this company.
It's interesting that they are pushing so hard in this direction, ramping up for introduction to the U.S. market, you've got to wonder whether it's wishful thinking on their part, or whether they know something the rest of us don't.