Lawsuit Over HR Brand Settled Out Of Court

Source from:  Cigar Aficionado 06/15/2016

The lawsuit between Omar Gonzalez, maker of the HR brand of cigars, and Mederos Cigars LLC (aka Cubanacan) has been settled without payments.

The suit began in September when Gonzalez sued Mederos for breach of contract and trademark infringement. According to the suit, Mederos, which distributed the HR brand, never paid Gonzalez for the cigars it sold. The contract between the two parties was an 80/20 agreement—Mederos was to pay 80 percent of its HR sales to Gonzalez, who made the cigars at the La Corona Factory in Nicaragua. The suit alleged that Mederos "breached the agreement by failing to make any payments as required by the contracts."

Now, both parties have reached what seems to be an amicable agreement.

Gonzalez's lawyer released this statement:

"The parties have amicably resolved all matters between them. Each side has waived any and all claims against each other with no payments being made to either party. The parties wish each other the best of success in their future endeavors. With the uncertainty surrounding the issues related to the FDA regulations, the parties deem settlement to be in their respective best interests."

Cigar Aficionado reached out to Robert Mederos, owner of Mederos Cigars LLC (Cubanacan), who confirmed that the statement was accurate.

Gonzalez's lawyer told Cigar Aficionado that Robaina and Gonzalez will retain the HR trademark as part of the settlement.

The HR brand was started by Cuban farmer and tobacco grower Hirochi Robaina, grandson of the famed Alejandro Robaina. Released in 2014, HR cigars were distributed in the United States by Mederos (Cubanacan) until Robaina and HR producer La Corona parted ways with Cubanacan last year. A formal announcement of the split came in July. The lawsuit followed a few months later.

Production of the brand halted in April of last year, but resumed in September, although most of the inventory remained unsold until Robaina and Gonzalez found a new distributor in February—White Hat Distributors, owned by Spencer Drake.

HR cigars are now in full production at Gonzalez's La Corona factory in Estelí. They are composed of all-Nicaraguan tobacco within an Ecuador Habana wrapper. Made in five sizes, the cigars retail from $11.95 to $21.99. Enditem