SLP, Mexico.- The president of the United States, Joe Biden, signed a law which prohibits the recognition of trademarks confiscated by the Cuban Government, reaffirming Bacardi’s rights over the Havana Club rum brand in the United States.
The called “Bacardi Law”, signed this Sunday, prevents US courts and organizations from applying or validating the registered trademarks that the regime has appropriated since 1959.
“HR 1505, the No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Actmodifies the prohibition of recognition by United States courts of certain rights relating to certain trademarks, trade names or trade names,” says the press release published by the Biden administration.
The No Stolen Trademarks Honored It was approved unanimously in both chambers. The regulation expands the prohibition on US federal courts from enforcing rights to trademarks illegally confiscated by Cuba, unless the original owner has given consent.
The bill would also prohibit the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from recognizing, enforcing or validating any claims of rights in such marks.
The representatives of the regime described the measure as “aggressive” against the Island.
Johana Tablada de la Torre, director for the United States of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, denounced that the regulations aim to strip Cubaexport of its rights to the brand, to prevent its renewal in the United States in 2026.
The so-called “Stolen Trademarks Act” signed by Biden modifies the law into an aggressive measure against #Cubaprecisely with the purpose of opening up the door, in violation of International Law, to theft of Cuban Trademarks that are legally registered in that country. pic.twitter.com/DHU8UBicrO
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) December 3, 2024
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said that the law “violates” International Law and opens the door to the “theft” of Cuban brands legally registered in the United States.
“The so-called “Stolen Trademark Law” signed by Biden modifies the law in an aggressive measure against Cuba, precisely with the purpose of opening the door, violating International Law, to the theft of Cuban Trademarks legally registered in that country,” he wrote in x.
A long conflict
The Cuban Government distributes the famous Havana Club rum outside the Island while Bacardi maintains that the brand was illegally seized by Fidel Castro’s regime in 1960, along with the assets of the Cuban company José Arechabala SA.
The true intention of this maneuver is to prevent the renewal of the brand #HavanaClub in #USAwhich must occur in 2026 and strip the Cubaexport company of its rights as holder of the registration before the Trademark and Patent Office of the #USA
— Johana Tablada de la Torre (@Johana Tablada) December 2, 2024
This year, Bacardi convinced a US appeals court to revive the liquor giant’s lawsuit against the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in its dispute with the Cuban government over rum.
Bacardi had sued the USPTO in December 2021, for renewing the trademark registration in favor of Cubaexport, a Cuban state company. The lawsuit, inserted in the long legal battle between Havana and the alcoholic beverage giant, stated that the latter began selling Havana Club rum in the United States in 1995, after purchasing the brand.
The Cuban state export company and the French spirits firm Pernod Ricard sell rum under the same name in other countries, although they are prohibited from selling it in the United States.
Cubaexport registered the brand for the first time Havana Club in the United States in 1976. This company attempted to renew registration in 2006, but was unable to obtain a license from the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
