Guantanamera Cigars sues again

Guantanamera Cigars sues again. In the 24 years that Guantanamera Cigars Co is active in the cigar industry, the company has filed its share of lawsuits. Jose Montagne, Guantanamera Cigar Company’s owner has been in several legal fights with Habanos. Habanos wants to trademark Guantanamera in the United States, even though the Cuban Guantanamera is 5 years younger than Montagne’s Guantanamera Cigar Company.

Duo

But the latest legal fights for Guantanamera aren’t about the Guantanamera name. It’s about the Duo trademark. Guantanamera owns the trademark since 2009. In 2018 they filed a lawsuit against Royal Agio Cigars about the Balmoral Signature Dueto. That cigar, a collaboration between Royal Agio and Ernesto Perez Carillo was an infringement of the trademark according to Guantanamera. This was settled two years later out of court.

But now Guantanamera is suing Swedish Match, third-party distributors, wholesalers, and retailers working with Swedish Match. These retailers include Costco and Sam’s Club. All these wholesalers and retailers sell the White Owl Duos.

Guantanamera claims that Swedish Match is infringing upon the Duo trademark with the White Owl Duos. This is a recent product in the Swedish Match portfolio that includes two different cigarillos in one package. These are cigars with flavors that complement each other. In the lawsuit, Guantanamera Cigar Company also claims that is not in compliance with the FDA regulations. The flavor combinations available include coconut & rum, mango & pineapple, vanilla & chocolate, berries & cream, strawberry & kiwi. The White Owl cigarillos are machine-made cigarillos and are not premium handmade cigars. Guantanamera Cigars produced premium handmade cigars in Miami, Florida.