Trademark theft is part of blockade policy
News from Cuba | Thursday, 11 April 2013
The Cuban Mission at the the United Nations has issued a press release condemning the decision of a US court to award the prestigious "Cohiba" cigar trademark to a US company.
The release reads:
TRADEMARKS THEFT AS PART OF THE BLOCKADE POLICY IMPOSED ON CUBA
The economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed on Cuba continues to be implemented and deepened, despite the repeated and almost unanimous claim of the international community for its elimination.
The theft of Cuban trademarks in the United States under the aegis of federal authorities of the said country is part of the actions of economic war against the Island.
In March 2013, a federal commission ruled that the U.S. company General Cigar Co. Inc. may continue using the trade name Cohiba to sell its cigars in the United States.
The U.S. government said that since the Cuban enterprise Cubatabaco cannot sell their cigars in the United States because of the blockade laws and therefore, the enterprise “lacks legal status” to litigate for the registered trademark Cohiba in that country.
Cohiba is the most prestigious brand in the cigar world. It was created in Cuba in 1966 and gained world fame right after its registration in 1969.
Cuba loses income over 300 million dollars every year to the implementation of the blockade laws, which hamper cigar sales in the U.S. and prevent access to the cigar market.
For more than twenty years in a row, the majority of the international community has condemned the blockade policy imposed on Cuba with, inter alia, the approval of a Resolution at the UN General Assembly calling for the end of such unfair, illegal and immoral policy.
New York, 11 April 2013
