Enigma de la marca de cigarros. Who Owns Cuban Brands in the U.S.?

Hello, esteemed aficionado—another week has gracefully elapsed, and it is once again my privilege to escort you through our weekly discourse on cigars, designed to whisk you away from the banal encumbrances of daily existence.

So, how do we account for the curious phenomenon wherein nearly every venerable Cuban cigar brand also boasts a counterpart crafted outside of Cuba? Typically, this situation arose when a cigar maker, forced to leave Cuba after his business was nationalized, relocated and continued producing under the same esteemed name. He did so under the belief that the right to the name—and the legacy it carried—remained rightfully his.

In the early days of the 1960s, the majority of Cuba's cigar artisans vacated their homeland, seeking refuge and new beginnings in places such as Miami, Esteli or the Canary Islands. They resumed their craft almost immediately in these adopted communities. However, it was not until the 1970s and subsequent years that the American market welcomed the non-Cuban renditions of illustrious cigar brands like Partagás, H. Upmann, Montecristo, and later even Trinidad, Cohiba, and San Cristobal.

Many of the owners, upon departing Cuba, believed their exile would be brief and that they would swiftly return to crafting their traditional cigar brands. Consequently, there was little urgency to develop non-Cuban versions of their products. Initially, many cigar brands established by Cuban exiles bore new names, like Don Diego, or were variants inspired by Cuban originals, such as Montecruz. As time elapsed and the reality of a permanent departure settled in, owners began selling their brands to finance their new lives.

The pioneering brand to launch a non-Cuban variant was Hoyo de Monterrey, which entered the market in 1965. On his deathbed, the brand owner, Fernando Palicio, transferred ownership of Hoyo, along with the Punch brand, to Frank Llaneza and Dan Blumenthal of Villazon & Co.

The 1972 lawsuit, Menendez v. Faber, Coe, and Gregg—an importer of Cuban cigars—marked a pivotal moment in cigar history. This landmark case affirmed the rights of exiled cigar makers to market non-Cuban versions of the brands they once produced in Cuba. As a result, Cuban Cigar Brands NV was established, securing the trademarks for H. Upmann, Montecristo, and Por Larrañaga. This era also saw the birth of non-Cuban Partagas and H. Upmann brands. By 1990, the Consolidated Cigar Corp. had begun manufacturing Montecristos for the U.S. market. I am completely sure that these big companies likely pursued these brand names out of a deep connection to their heritage while underestimating the profound market resonance and sales potential these familiar names would evoke, right?

Now it gets a bit more interesting. The Dominican Cohiba stands out from the typical pattern of exiles who fled communism and sold the rights to brands they once owned. The Cuban Cohiba was conceived and named in 1966, well after the revolution, in 1959. In a strategic move, General Cigar Co. applied to register the U.S. rights to the Cohiba name in 1978 and commenced the sale of Dominican Cohibas by 1980.

It's understandable to empathize with Cuban refugees who relocated their cigar operations from Cuba to various countries. Indeed, the cigar boom presented a significant opportunity for cigar makers looking for a new start. On the other side of the story are people like Sean Williams, the current owner of the Cohiba brand in the U.S. under General Cigar Co. Williams, who is not a Cuban refugee, owns the rights to a brand that was originally launched in Cuba post-revolution. The complex dynamics of such cases often reflect the political realities, leading to skepticism about whether an American court would ever favor Cuba in such trademark disputes.

How did the non-Cuban Cohiba come into existence? Cubatabaco registered the Cohiba trademark in Cuba in 1969, and it was granted in 1972. In the years that followed, before General Cigar Co. filed for the mark in the U.S. in 1978, the brand grew in prominence. This included a mention in a November 1977 issue of Forbes magazine, highlighting it as one of the brands Cubatabaco was developing for potential export. Edgar Cullman, then owner and president of General Cigar Co., admitted that he "must have read" the article, as he was a recipient of Forbes magazines. This indicates that Cullman was aware of the already registered brand before General's U.S. filing the following year. In contrast, in Europe, most countries have sided with Cuba in legal rulings, disallowing the sale of non-Cuban Cohibas.

The phenomenon didn’t end with Cohiba. Despite numerous current Cuban brands that weren't originally established by refugees—such as Cohiba, Trinidad, and San Cristobal, which are all post-revolution creations—U.S. companies have still gone ahead and launched cigars bearing these names, complete with similar logos and decorative styles. This reflects a broader trend where U.S. entities capitalize on the reputations and aesthetic appeal of these newer Cuban brands with no repercussions.