Secondly, the company contact and requested with OCPI (the Cuban Industrial Property Office) for making a trademark search with overview the trade name before the process to apply for protection of the company’s trade name. In this action, OCPI found that “Alba” trademark had registered in Cuba by a Miroglio Tessile (Dominican citizen) under class 25 and other similar classes of the International Classification of Goods and Service-Nice Convention and included with the activities of the Cuban Company.
Turning-point, Cuban legislation enforced the Decree No. 203 of 1999, which contributed a new legal concept for the Cuban legal system and somewhat effects to “Alba Confecciones” proceeding. At the same time, OCPI cancelled and removed from the trademark register the trademark “Alba Confecciones” from Mr. Tessile with the reason that was non-using in successive period of more than three years under Cuban trademark law. To follow all the advice and supply concrete from CIGET, this company applied immediately to register and protection in its own name. After that, the company had to have trademark rights over on this trade name.
Comments on efficiency
First thing, this company did not take interest to register the trade name in its territory under Cuban legal system before approaching a national trademark. And there are not any issues in this action and a great important. The company had to use this name more than six years without legal protection.
OCPI found that “Alba” trademark had registered in Cuba by a Miroglio Tessile (Dominican citizen). With this result, it exposed a serious threat of the Pinar Del Rio Company which used the name as trademark without a clear of the trademark rights and face to face an infringement and directly of influence for register and using this trade name as a trademark.
Step by step to enhancing the company become well known image, not only in its own province but also in the other provinces in Cuba. Specially, the company gained valuable experience in trademark matters for supporting its advertising, branding and marketing activities in domestic and oversees markets.
Opinions in this case
In my opinion, the company registered and owned the trademark “Alba Confecciones” on their products for doing business in national market. Beside, with a wide range of the products in textile and clothing which were producing and specially, this company was establishing to develop some strategies for exporting their products to foreign market. So the company needs to do, follow on the instructions from international trademark rights organization like WIPO and to continue registering and take interest some more of its trademarks abroad for protecting the products in international market where will be required a clear trademark rights and higher of compete market. And with it also helps this company will stand steady in great difficult and higher risk of law systems depend of each market’s countries. An important theory in this case: “The trademark of the company is often associated with their products. The company wants a stronger expand and needs to easy approach the customers for doing business in market and also foreign market must to own a clear and good trademark rights”.
Source from:
http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/case_studies/alba_confecciones.htm
Case prepared by Yoel N. Barroso Victorero and Margarita Espinosa Rodríguez.
