I was going through my correspondence last night and came across a brief mention about this ongoing lawsuit. J.G.G. Tobacco Holding Company Inc (My Father Cigars) entered a complaint against Antigua Esteli Tobacco, Corp (Antigua Esteli Cigars) on 9/6/2019. They have since amended the complaint and filed it on 1/10/2020. Below you will find the amended complaint and the response from Antigua Esteli.
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I took some screenshots from the US Patent & Trademark office and included them below. As you can see, they list the My Father mark along with it’s translation: La Antiguedad – antiquity
The Antigua Esteli trademark includes a graphic logo and the translation: Antigua – ancient
Now, I’m not a trademark lawyer but, I don’t see how these two trademarks could be confusing. My Father Cigars has been around for a long time. They have lots of different cigar lines. If you walk into a brick and mortar’s humidor, My Father will probably have a whole shelf full of facings. Compare that to Antigua Esteli who is new to the industry, maybe has a handful of blends and will have to fight to be noticed.
Between the recent news of who’s attending trade shows and who’s not and the ever present fight against the FDA, is this what cigar manufacturers should be wasting time and money on?