Joined
·
155 Posts
United Tobacco, EO Brands Series X and Fuente feud over trade mark infringements.
I was going to put this up about a week ago but I wanted to check my information first and to find out about my own business liability. I am putting this here in the Cigar Forum instead of the Retailer Forum because I am writing this both as a retailer and private person outraged at this situation.
A week ago I received a letter from the Oliva Cigar Company generally stating what I have been telling customers who purchased the Series X cigar produced by United Tobacco, EO Brands; that although the Oliva Family allowed United Tobacco to state in advertising that their new cigar was made in the Oliva Factory, Oliva had no other association with the brand. This is true and was confirmed by Eddie Ortega of United Tobacco. Be that as it may, the Oliva Family in this letter states that they will no longer produce this brand since receiving a Cease and Desist order from the Fuente Family for trade mark infringements.
I called Eddie Ortega for information but he could not speak openly about this since there will be a counter suit; however, I did know where to go for some very close hearsay information. Fact is, in a nut shell, the Fuentes has issued this Cease and Desist order due to United Tobaccos use of the letter X in its name. Understand the brand trade mark Series X is a registered trade mark and was accepted by the government agency that handles these things. No infringement was found when the registration went in and United Tobacco was granted sole use of the name Series X.
Eddie Ortega and his partner Eric Espinoza took this matter to a law firm for advice and investigation and evidence shows that United Tobacco had every legal right to use the trade mark Series X. A letter cannot be trade marked but if it incorporates a specific design, the design can be trade marked. At the time of initial investigation by the law firm there was no trade mark design for the letter X on file. Trade mark registration of the Fuente Opus X design apparently went into effect one or two weeks after sending the Cease and Desist order making the design after the fact, as it was explained to me. (I don’t know how much of this paragraph is accurate).
It would appear that the Fuentes, a huge player in the cigar industry, needs to flex muscle taking on small cigar companies seemingly to protect a world wide known trade mark that looks nothing like the Series X. Is this Goliath going after David? In the case of Opus X vs. Mondavi Opus I, as I remember the conclusion by the judge was that he didn’t believe anyone would confuse a bottle of wine with a cigar and if his decision would go in favor or either company no composer in the future could write a music score utilizing the designation of opus I or opus X in Roman Numeral. The case was a push. (Pretty sure this was the determination by the court).
In any event and regardless of the outcome Oliva will not produce this brand for United Tobacco and the Series X may go into the realm of a collectors item. I do know that Eddie Ortega is now looking for a new factory and will not be daunted by this event. They intend to continue producing this blend and are looking for a factory to do this but the cigar will no doubt have a new name.
My reason for posting this has to do with my stating to a number of you who purchased and re purchased the Series X and asked me about the rumors regarding Fuente going after United Tobacco and my saying I didn’t believe Fuente would bother with something so trivial. Guess I was wrong; my apologies to those who agreed with my assessment of this situation. mb
(Disclaimer: all information gathered to write this letter is information I gathered from sources out side of United Tobacco or the Oliva Family and is for informational purpose only. Any opinions expressed are my own as a member of the general cigar population and industry).
I was going to put this up about a week ago but I wanted to check my information first and to find out about my own business liability. I am putting this here in the Cigar Forum instead of the Retailer Forum because I am writing this both as a retailer and private person outraged at this situation.
A week ago I received a letter from the Oliva Cigar Company generally stating what I have been telling customers who purchased the Series X cigar produced by United Tobacco, EO Brands; that although the Oliva Family allowed United Tobacco to state in advertising that their new cigar was made in the Oliva Factory, Oliva had no other association with the brand. This is true and was confirmed by Eddie Ortega of United Tobacco. Be that as it may, the Oliva Family in this letter states that they will no longer produce this brand since receiving a Cease and Desist order from the Fuente Family for trade mark infringements.
I called Eddie Ortega for information but he could not speak openly about this since there will be a counter suit; however, I did know where to go for some very close hearsay information. Fact is, in a nut shell, the Fuentes has issued this Cease and Desist order due to United Tobaccos use of the letter X in its name. Understand the brand trade mark Series X is a registered trade mark and was accepted by the government agency that handles these things. No infringement was found when the registration went in and United Tobacco was granted sole use of the name Series X.
Eddie Ortega and his partner Eric Espinoza took this matter to a law firm for advice and investigation and evidence shows that United Tobacco had every legal right to use the trade mark Series X. A letter cannot be trade marked but if it incorporates a specific design, the design can be trade marked. At the time of initial investigation by the law firm there was no trade mark design for the letter X on file. Trade mark registration of the Fuente Opus X design apparently went into effect one or two weeks after sending the Cease and Desist order making the design after the fact, as it was explained to me. (I don’t know how much of this paragraph is accurate).
It would appear that the Fuentes, a huge player in the cigar industry, needs to flex muscle taking on small cigar companies seemingly to protect a world wide known trade mark that looks nothing like the Series X. Is this Goliath going after David? In the case of Opus X vs. Mondavi Opus I, as I remember the conclusion by the judge was that he didn’t believe anyone would confuse a bottle of wine with a cigar and if his decision would go in favor or either company no composer in the future could write a music score utilizing the designation of opus I or opus X in Roman Numeral. The case was a push. (Pretty sure this was the determination by the court).
In any event and regardless of the outcome Oliva will not produce this brand for United Tobacco and the Series X may go into the realm of a collectors item. I do know that Eddie Ortega is now looking for a new factory and will not be daunted by this event. They intend to continue producing this blend and are looking for a factory to do this but the cigar will no doubt have a new name.
My reason for posting this has to do with my stating to a number of you who purchased and re purchased the Series X and asked me about the rumors regarding Fuente going after United Tobacco and my saying I didn’t believe Fuente would bother with something so trivial. Guess I was wrong; my apologies to those who agreed with my assessment of this situation. mb
(Disclaimer: all information gathered to write this letter is information I gathered from sources out side of United Tobacco or the Oliva Family and is for informational purpose only. Any opinions expressed are my own as a member of the general cigar population and industry).
mb
