Cohiba Trademark Dispute: Latest Court Ruling and Impact
The long-lasting dispute related to the COHIBA trademark in the US continues.
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.
About COHIBA Cigars
Handcrafted in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and the U.S., COHIBA cigars are critically acclaimed for their meticulous construction and refined taste. With its iconic red dot logo, the core brand of COHIBA is complemented by these super premium collections, each offering cigar connoisseurs luxurious and memorable smoking experiences: COHIBA Black, COHIBA Blue, COHIBA Connecticut, COHIBA Riviera, COHIBA Royale, and COHIBA Nicaragua. In addition, the artisans of COHIBA produce special edition expressions featuring proprietary tobaccos and released in extremely limited quantity, including COHIBA Spectre and COHIBA Serie M.
Visit Cohiba.com for more information.
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