A 2007 Court of Appeals ruling has turned the tables in an 11-year legal battle waged by the Cuban maker of the famed Cohiba cigar – prized by Fidel Castro – to block a U.S. company from using the name “Cohiba” for cigars it sells in this country, a Southern District judge ruled last week.

More than three years ago the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed the lawsuit brought by Cubatabaco, a company owned by the Cuban government.