of an American company aka "complete ****s corp." trademarkimg one of the Cuban names back in the 70's/80's.
Think it must've been this one which goes back years earlier:
December 14, 2009
New York District Judge Robert Sweet ruled on December 14, 2009 that the Cohiba brand belonged to Cubatabaco and that US based General Cigar can no longer use the Cohiba name for its cigars made in the Dominican Republic. Since 1992 General Cigar used the Cohiba brand, originally started in Cuba and owned by state run Cubatabaco, to market their own Cohiba cigars.
The Cohiba brand is sold in every country except the United States because of the long standing US Embargo against Cuba.
General Cigar’s representatives said they’ll appeal the judge's ruling in this case that has been in the courts for ten years. However, General Cigar is allowed to continue selling Dominican Republic Cohibas until the appeal is heard.
The lawyers for Cubatabaco say that this decision "vindicates the fundamental principle that a company cannot be permitted to reap what it has not sowed and that it cannot exploit the goodwill and reputation of another enterprise’s product".
http://cohibas.com/The ones from the Dominican Republic are probably made from banana leaves anyway - cheeky fuckers.
As an aside I didn't go to one of the "factories" but was amused at how many who did so muttering their disappointment at discovering the women don't really roll the cigars on the inside of their thighs. Perverts. :rofl: