Counterfeit Smokes: Cigar Giant Fights Back

Altadis U.S.A., a Fort Lauderdale company that ranks among the biggest cigar manufacturers in the world, is leading the fight against cigar counterfeiting in South Florida, according to an article in the August 15 issue of the Daily Business Review. The article details a Miami-Dade County police raid at a Hialeah retail store called Cuba Habanos USA, where the owner was arrested and detectives seized more than 2,000 cigar boxes with counterfeit labels. Altadis, which makes the U.S. versions of well-known cigar brands like H. Upmann, Montecristo, and Romeo y Julieta, believes that the manufacture and trade of illicit cigars is a multimillion-dollar business in South Florida.

Leora Herrmann, a partner at Grimes & Battersby in New York City who is heading Altadis' anti-counterfeiting campaign, told the reporter there will be a lot more action, both criminal and civil, as a result. The Daily Business Review also reported that Herrmann hired Steven I. Peretz and Jorge Espinosa, intellectual property attorneys at Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin in Miami, "to fight the alleged phony cigar trade in South Florida."

Espinosa explained to the Review that the cigar counterfeiting industry has a number of levels. "There are the printers of the fake cigar bands and labels that mimic the logo of well-known brands. There are individuals who sell the fake bands, labels and cigar boxes to cigar makers. And then there are cigar makers who market the bogus product. In some cases, there are financiers."