"Cuba" and "Havana" are inadmissible for cigars made from non-Cuban tobaccos
Designations such as "Cuba" and "Havana" are not permitted for cigars made from non-Cuban tobaccos. Current court decision of the LG Munich confirms this again. The court ruling concerns Germany.
Habanos S.A. lawsuit again successful in court
In response to a lawsuit filed by Corporación Habanos S.A., the Munich Regional Court has again confirmed in a recent ruling that "Cuba" and "Havana" and derivatives thereof are geographical designations of origin with a special reputation in relation to tobacco and cigars and may only be used in commercial transactions in Germany for cigars made from tobaccos that actually originate from Cuba.
Special meaning "Cuba" and "Havana
According to the court's reasoning, the terms "Cuba" and "Havana" have special significance for the highest tobacco enjoyment from the famous island and therefore enjoy the extended trademark protection of geographical indications of source with a special reputation. As the court explains, the island and its capital Havana do not only stand for an attitude to life and are not only representative of cigar enjoyment.
Rather, in relation to cigars and their components, these designations have a corresponding prestige in terms of quality due to the quality and selection of the tobaccos processed and due to the method of production. The buyer of such cigars associates - just like a considerable part of the non-smokers - with the designations a special prestige.
Cuban lakes etc. also inadmissible
The court deals in detail with designations such as "Cuban Seed", "Piloto Cubano" or "Habano wrapper" and considers these to be inadmissible even if cigars were produced outside the island with formerly Cuban seeds and in possibly comparable manual labor. This is because the court states that for the special reputation of Cuban cigars, not only the type of production or the place of origin of the tobacco seeds are important, but that the quality of the tobacco is also and in particular shaped by the regional growing conditions such as climate, rainfall and soil.
The so-called "terroir" is a regional - and not personal - characteristic of the growing regions on the island. Also, because tobacco is an annual plant, the quality is determined less by the origin of the seed than by the local growing conditions.
According to the court, designations such as "Cuban Seed", ,,Piloto Cubano" or "Habano cover sheet" unfairly impair this special reputation without justifiable reason.
In its reasons for the judgment, the court also refers to earlier case law and confirms this in the result. The judgment is not yet final.
Cuban seeds have not been exported for decades
We (5TH Avenue Products, editor's note) have long been convinced that references to alleged or supposedly original "Cuban seeds" are of little help to the cigar smoker. Tobaccos are annual plants and are highly adaptable to soils and climatic conditions; from the same seed, highly different characteristics develop in a short time in different growing regions.
Genuine Cuban seed has been bred exclusively for Cuban tobacco production for many decades and is not exported. In addition, there are unique artisan tradition and unique knowledge of the secrets of the best cigars. The special reputation of Cuba for tobacco and cigars has many reasons.
Well, product descriptions such as "Piloto Cubano" also underline my view rather a quality of real Cuban tobacco. For me, this says: "We try with this product to come as close as possible to the Cuba qualities, but it is not a Cuba product". This even underlines the quality of Cuban tobacco. For me in no way captious. I know of no non Cuba cigar, which is marketed as a Cuba cigar. Each offerer would know nevertheless that it would give then actually Unterlassungsklagen. Therefore, I see the conducted proceedings as completely unnecessary, even as rather counterproductive.
It concerns Germany. Cuba and Germany have some kind of agreement in which such designations are forbidden. The dramatic thing is that in April 2020 I already knew about another court decision in the same matter. I, out of my quality thinking, immediately informed all my clients that they urgently needed to correct their designations. Some did and some didn't (and the latter were then unfortunately sued). Well, being ignorant gets you under the hammer.
By the way, a wonderful picture from my 2nd home which you show there. The Valle de Viñales as I have not seen it yet. Many thanks!
Well, that makes me all the more happy 🙂
This doesn't seem to work with the Americans, they don't manage to protect the Gruyère cheese. These, sorry my expression, scoundrels tailor the law as it suits them, and the sad thing is, everyone goes along with it ...