The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) won a lawsuit brought by rum maker Bacardi & Co. after the agency reaffirmed that havana club It is Cuban property, according to official media on the island.
The lawsuit was filed last December before a federal court in Virginia, because the PTO renewed Cuba’s rights to the Havana Club rum brand, produced by Cubaexport and the subject of a prolonged legal battle, according to a report of the Prensa Latina (PL) agency.
The US Patent and Trademark Office wins a lawsuit against Barcardí and Cuba maintains ownership of Havana Club.https://t.co/vQAqrKBbhA
— Cuban Office of Industrial Property (@CubanaOficina) April 8, 2022
According to Bacardí & Co., the concession was illegal because the patent registration had to expire after it did not obtain a license from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac). USA in 2006, specifies the medium.
The justice of the northern country determined this Thursday that Bacardí could not directly sue the PTO for its decision, so it dismissed the petition, PL points out.
The information agency points out that the legal representative of the liquor giant now based in the Bahamas, Michael Lynch, stated shortly after the news broke that the company is disappointed and considering an appeal, since this ruling will prevent it from registering its own brand. Havana Club.
The founders of Bacardí left the Caribbean island after the triumph of the Revolution, on January 1, 1959, recalls PL.
According to the plaintiff company, in 1960 the Cuban government illegally confiscated the Havana Club brand along with other assets of the Cuban company José Arechabala SA, one of the largest business groups on the island in the sugar industry and the production of alcoholic beverages, the publication underlines. .
Since the 1960s, Cubaexport (a commercial alliance between Cuba and the French alcoholic beverage company Pernod Ricard) has been selling the Ron Havana Club throughout the world, except in the United States, PL points out.
US judge dismisses lawsuit against Pernod Ricard in Havana Club case
The same source indicates that in 1995 Bacardi bought the José Arechabala brand and began selling that drink in parallel in the United States, where Cuba cannot market the product due to sanctions related to the blockade/embargo imposed by the government of the northern nation. .
The decision of the US trademark agency would allow the current owner of the Havana Club brand to sell in the United States the rum produced in Cuban territory once the embargo is lifted, PL specifies.
