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COURT UPHOLDS COHIBA BRAND NAME RIGHT: A federal court has ordered a Nevada businessman to stop using the "Cohiba" name on cigars and rum, and awarded the brand owner, General Cigar Co., almost $770,000 in damages plus legal costs. The business owner, Philip Restifo, said Friday that he was complying with U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval's June 30 order, which banned importing, marketing, distributing and selling "Cohiba Caribbean's Finest" cigars and rum. "As of the 30th, we stopped the sales of the rum and pulled down our Web sites," Restifo said. He said he stopped selling the cigars after Cohiba brand owner General Cigar filed a trademark infringement and counterfeiting lawsuit in May 2006. Restifo is the owner of Cohiba Caribbean's Finest and Data Commodities Inc. of Las Vegas. Restifo said he sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection four days before the ruling, in which the judge awarded triple damages based on estimated and actual receipts for "Cohiba Caribbean's Finest" cigars and rum from 2000 to 2006.
HARLEY TO BUY ITALIAN CYCLE FIRM FOR $109M: Harley-Davidson Inc. said Friday it will buy Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta Group for about $109 million to boost its presence in Europe, giving it entry into the popular performance bike market there. MV Agusta makes a line of premium sport motorcycles under its name brand and a line of lightweight motorcycles under the Cagiva brand. The deal will help Harley-Davidson expand into the European market as sales slump in the United States, where consumers are pulling back on spending. Performance, or sport, bikes account for about 80 percent of sales in Europe, The MV Agusta acquisition gives Harley-Davidson a chance to go after European sport motorcycle riders, who tend to be younger than U.S. motorcycle riders, Harley-Davidson Chief Executive Officer Jim Ziemer said. Sport motorcycles typically are high- performance and require riders to lean forward. Heavyweight motorcycles such as Harley- Davidson's top-selling touring bikes allow for a more laid-back riding style since drivers can sit upright. The heavier-weight bikes are more popular in the United States, but worldwide, sport motorcycles account for half of all sales.
MEXICO'S AG DEPARTMENT FINDS NO TAINT IN TOMATOES: Mexico's Agriculture Department says its tests found no salmonella in Mexican tomatoes. It says Mexican officials took samples from the same soil, water and tomatoes recently examined by U.S. inspectors and found no evidence of the bacteria. A team of inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration visited five Mexican farms in search of the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,000 people. The FDA has not released the results of its tests in Mexico.
