Ana Lopez Garcia Dec Omsj

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Electronic Filing System. http://estta.uspto.gov ESTTA Tracking number: Filing date:

Proceeding

ESTTA317311 11/17/2009

IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD 91186534

Party

Plaintiff Corporacion Habanos, S.A., Empresa Cubana del Tabaco, dba Cubatabaco

Correspondence Address

Submission

David B. Goldstein Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky, et al 111 Broadway, Suite 1102 New York, NY 10006-1901 UNITED STATES [email protected] Opposition/Response to Motion

Filer's Name

David B. Goldstein

Filer's e-mail

[email protected]

Signature

/David B. Goldstein/

Date

11/17/2009

Attachments

Ana Lopez Garcia Dec.PDF ( 8 pages )(543050 bytes ) hc exh1.PDF ( 45 pages )(1804774 bytes ) hc exh 2.PDF ( 27 pages )(5395351 bytes ) hc exh 3a.pdf ( 6 pages )(339978 bytes ) hc exh 4.PDF ( 14 pages )(1974059 bytes ) hc exh 5.PDF ( 13 pages )(4579370 bytes ) hc exh 6.PDF ( 23 pages )(4289033 bytes )

[ cover]

EXCELENCIAS Turísticas del Caribe & Las Américas [ Tourism Treasures in the Caribbean and the Americas]

Tenth Festival del Habano Havana 2008 February 25-29

10 Years of TRIUMPHS

REAL WORKS OF ART TO KEEP CI GARS I N EXCELLENT CONDI TI ON AND ENHANCE THEI R AROMA AND FLAVOR

The art of Humidors Few things are as perfect and complete as a good humidor, fruit of the harmonious combination of the natural aroma of Cuban cedar, which contains essential oils that enrich and preserve the peculiar smell of Habana cigars, and of human talent directed towards a beautiful and functional work of art. Perhaps there lies the key of the success of the creations of the DECUBA group, craftsmen in Pinar del Rio, the “land of the best tobacco in the world”, who are deservedly famous for the perfection and striking appearance of their pieces. Some of their secrets can be inhaled and touched at first glance, like the fact that the wood used is all natural cedar taken from the hills of Cuba, and dried for over three years to be ideal. Each design, besides being exclusive, is worked out by consensus over months and sometimes years by the designers, cabinetmakers, carvers, inlay specialists, and painters who comprise the DECUBA Group. They, together with the Aroma y Sabor Group, also in Pinar del Rio, work to handle major orders, without ignoring details, to the point that they mount their works by hand, which confers on each one, even if they are similar, a distinctive touch, noticeable for its art and quality. Hence it is not unusual that they get orders from the whole world, and their works are distributed in places as far away as

[ photo of corner joint]

[ text in lower right] The artisans take painstaking care over each detail while making the humidors.

[ text below photo] The humidors must close so as not to leave a gap of even a millimeter.

as Hong Kong, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Andorra,

Luxury gift

Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, Lebanon, or Mexico. However, its primary client is Habanos S.A., which for eight years has been

Tenth Festival Humidor

making major orders in numbered Special Series, which it sells in over fifty countries through the international franchise “La Casa del Habano.” Each humidor has a hygrometer to determine the humidity inside it, and a humidifier with distilled water, whose function it is to add the humidity needed to keep the cigars in proper conditions. These accessories distinguish a humidor from boxes or other containers for storing cigars. As Milan Dominguez, founder and coordinator of the DECUBA Group explains, the ideal for keeping a cigar is to maintain a relative humidity of 65-70 percent, which is achieved with a good humidor. Curiously, Cuba, and especially Pinar del Rio, because of its climate conditions of relative high humidity, is regarded as a great natural humidor. That explains why the drying and curing of tobacco leaves is done in this manner. However, the story changes for other countries where the relative humidity is very low, and hence the cigar dries up, chips away, or loses its wrapping, unless constant care is taken to keep ideal conditions of temperature and relative humidity. That is where the humidor most comes into its own. It is not at all easy to make them. The first step, explains Milan Dominguez, is to know what the customer wants. Then comes defining the design, the shape, the size, the colors and fittings to

This humidor with very special characteristics, devoted to the tenth anniversary of the Festival del Habano which will be auctioned off on the last night of the event, is truly a collector’s item. It is two meters high, it is completely covered in Macasser ebony, with no tricks of any kind and it will hold 700 cigars of the famous Habano S.A. brands. The Tenth Festival Humidor was made completely by hand by the artists of the DeCuba Group and Aroma y Sabor, experts in the art of making humidors. In order to elaborate this piece, unique in its form, style, and content, over thirty different variants of design were considered in order to reach the final one. Its veneers, painstakingly placed by hand, its gold fittings, and its cedar interior which gives Havana cigars a unique aroma, make this piece unquestionably a singular and perfect gift for a good cigar lover.

be used and its purposes, whether it is to satisfy a special order, to go along with a trademark wave in the market, or to create a new product. Subsequently the natural wood is selected, taking into account their range of colors and their quality, where it is crucial that it be uniform, compact, and quite dry, because otherwise the humidor twists and loses its properties; in closing it must leave not even a millimeter of difference between its lids. After this step comes a whole work of carpentry, where the parts are cut, calibrated, polished, and joined, always using dowels, not nails. Then the container is decorated, whether with carvings directly in the wood, with serigraphs using special inks and techniques, or with inlaying, by which small pieces of natural woods of different colors are joined to make marvelous drawings, or the corporate image or imprint of the Habanos trademark.

[ text at bottom] Some of these pieces have curious shapes, thanks to the creativity and skill of the craftsmen.

The finishing in painting is likewise decisive, because of the choice of the type of varnish, whether with greater or less sheen, or even completely matte. In all cases it is only used for exteriors, never inside the humidor where the odor of the polished wood will enhance the cigar’s flavor. Finally the humidifier and the hygrometer are mounted, and the quality of the finished humidor is tested exhaustively. It can be rejected for a small detail. That rigor explains why DECUBA takes over six years with all its productions, which are accepted by Habanos S.A. under the strictest quality controls. This group of artisans, where each has his role, in time creating works together, in addition to having the license of use granted by Habanos S.A. which is a recognition of their quality results, allowing it to produce and sell Montecristo and Vegas Robaina brand humidors, also creates other marvels of its own, with the understanding that each piece that comes from its hands is both utilitarian and a fine work of art.

Text: Ernesto Montero Photos: Ferval

[ text in lower right] When they are finished, many humidors are seriagraphed with specific Habanos trademarks.