Gurkha has filed a lawsuit against Davidoff over the latter’s Year of the Dragon limited edition cigar, which Gurkha claims violates its trademarks.
Gurkha Cigar Group, Inc. v. Davidoff of Geneva, USA, Inc. was filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. In the complaint, Gurkha claims that it is the exclusive licensee of various dragon-related trademarks that are owned by K. Hansotia & Co., Inc. Kaizad Hansotia is the owner of Gurkha Cigar Group, Inc.
Those registered trademarks include dragon, dragon fire, dragon lord, dragonslayer, imperial dragon, red dragon, and royal dragon.
Earlier this year, K. Hansotia & Co., Inc. filed for a trademark on “Year of Dragon” for cigars. Davidoff & Cie. SA, a Davidoff company, opposed that trademark. As such, that particular trademark is listed as opposition pending. Gurkha’s application was filed on Nov. 2, 2022.
Gurkha claims that after learning that Davidoff planned to sell a Year of the Dragon cigar “in or around July 8, 2023,” it contacted Davidoff to demand it stop selling that product, which it claims Davidoff refused to do.
Davidoff formally announced its Davidoff Limited 2024 Year of the Dragon cigar in late October and began shipping it on Nov. 16.
Gurkha announced its Year of the Dragon 2024 in late June and began shipping it earlier this week.
Of note, this is not the first time Davidoff has sold a “Year of the Dragon” cigar. Davidoff’s Zodiac Series—cigars created to honor the symbols on the Chinese lunar calendar—began rather inauspiciously with the release of the Davidoff Cuvée Selection 2012 Year of the Dragon. That cigar went on sale in 2011 in Asia. It lacked the bright red and gold packaging that the Zodiac Series has become known for, and the exact details of some of that release remain mysterious. That said, Davidoff sold that cigar in the U.S. in 2018, albeit with packaging that said “Davidoff Cuvée Selection 2012” but not “Year of the Dragon.”
Note: The following shows the various Davidoff Zodiac Series releases over the years. Some of these cigars may have been released after this post was published. The list was last updated on Feb. 9, 2024.
- Davidoff Cuvée Selection 2012 Year of the Dragon (6 x 52) — $35 (Bundle of 10, $350) — Undisclosed
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2013 Year of the Snake (7 x 48) — $29.90 (Box of 8, $239.20) — 4,500 Boxes of 8 Cigars (36,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2014 Year of the Horse (6 x 60) — $31 (Box of 9, $279) — 5,000 Boxes of 9 Cigars (45,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2015 Year of the Sheep (6 1/2 x 54) — $35 (Box of 8, $280) — 3,000 Boxes of 8 Cigars (24,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2016 Year of the Monkey (6 1/2 x 50) — $34 (Box of 10, $340) — 3,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (30,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2017 Year of the Rooster (6 3/4 x 50) — $40 (Box of 10, $400) — 8,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (80,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2018 Year of the Dog (7 x 50) — $39 (Box of 10, $390) — 4,500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (45,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2019 Year of the Pig (6 x 56) — $39 (Box of 10, $390) — 9,300 Boxes of 10 Cigars (93,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2020 Year of the Rat (6 x 52) — $39 (Box of 10, $390) — 10,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (100,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2021 Year of the Ox (6 x 60) — $40 (Box of 10, $400) — 13,500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (135,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2022 Year of the Tiger (5 x 52) — $42 (Box of 10, $420) — 17,350 Boxes of 10 Cigars (173,500 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2022 Year of the Tiger Toro — $397 (Humidor of 88, $35,000) — 24 Humidors of 88 Cigars (2,112 Total Cigars)*
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2023 Year of the Rabbit (5 15/16 x 54) — $50 (Box of 10, $500) — 19,200 Boxes of 10 Cigars (192,000 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2023 Year of the Rabbit Flagship Edition (6 x 56) — $72 (Box of 24, $1,728) — 600 Boxes of 24 Cigars (14,400 Total Cigars)
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2024 Year of the Dragon (7 1/2 x 50) — $59 (Box of 10, $590) — TBA
- Davidoff Limited Edition 2024 Year of the Dragon Flagship Edition (6 x 56) — $89 (Box of 24, $2,136) — 600 Boxes of 24 Cigars (14,400 Total Cigars)
*Not pictured.
Since then, the Zodiac Series has become an immensely popular release from Davidoff that has not only become one the most important annual product launches for Davidoff but also inspired other companies to release other cigars in honor of Chinese New Year, a list of companies that includes Drew Estate, Habanos S.A., Plasencia, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, Tabacalera S.L.U. and others.
Somewhat curiously, outside of the two companies in the lawsuit, only Maya Selva has sold a Year of the Dragon release in the U.S. It does not appear that Gurkha has filed a lawsuit against Maya Selva.
“We’ve owned the trademark Dragon since 2009, we’ve always protected it,” said Bianca Lopez, director of marketing for Gurkha, in a statement to halfwheel. “(We’ve) brought it to people’s attention when they infringed and this is the exact same matter.” A representative for Davidoff of Geneva USA declined to comment.
Gurkha is seeking damages for lost profits, enhanced damages and costs of attorneys’ fees.
Correction (Dec. 21, 2023) — This article incorrectly referred to Bianca Lopez as Bianca Melone, which is her maiden name. We have corrected it and apologize for the mistake.
I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.
