Trademark Infringement Found Even Though Product Bearing Infringed Mark Was Not Available In The U.S

The Cuban cigar company which owns the mark COHIBA, sued a U.S. based cigar manufacturer for for selling cigars carrying the name Cohiba. In its detailed decision in which the complexity of the issues were discussed, the court held that even though Cohiba cigars are unavailable in the U.S., the COHIBA mark is sufficiently known in the U.S. market and was known to be in use when the U.S. company began using the Cohiba name, such that allowing another company to sell cigars using the COHIBA mark would probably cause consumer confusion. The U.S. company was ordered to cease sales of the cigar and to turn over all packaging for destruction. (5/04)