‘American people have the right to know’: Battle over Havana Club runs a lot deeper than a brand name

HAVANA – Bacardi this week sought U.S. records to explain the U.S. government’s decision to strip the spirits company of their right to the Havana Club brand name and hand it to a Cuban state company partnered with a global rival.

Bacardi’s Freedom of Information Act request may be the latest step in an extended battle with the Cuban government over the Havana Club trademark in the usa.

Cuba cannot sell its rum in the United States because of the U.S. trade embargo around the island, but it hopes to eventually gain access to the world’s largest rum market since U.S.-Cuban relations are improving.

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In January, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office chose to allow Cuban state firm Cubaexport to register the Havana Club name once again in the usa.



The move opened the doorway to Cubaexport and it is French partner, Pernod Ricard, the world’s second-largest spirits group, eventually selling Havana Club in the usa in direct competition with Bacardi products.

Bacardi, a former Cuban distiller now located in Bermuda, left Cuba following the 1959 revolution and subsequently acquired the rights to the Havana Club trademark from the pre-revolutionary owner whose distillery was nationalized.

The United States previously recognized Bacardi’s claim to Havana Club under a statute aiming to protect those who own Cuban companies nationalized after Fidel Castro’s rebels came to power. Meanwhile, otherwise in the world, the name belonged to Cuba through the partnership between Cubaexport and Pernod Ricard.

Bacardi’s Freedom of Information Act request filed on Monday asks to determine all records related to the Havana Club trademark decision held by the executive office of The president, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, work of Foreign Assets Control, their state Department, the National Security Council, the Treasury Department or other offices.

“The United states citizens have the right to be aware of truth of methods and why this unprecedented, sudden and silent action was taken through the United States government to reverse long-standing U.S. and international public policy and law,” Eduardo Sanchez, senior vice president and general counsel of Bacardi, said in a statement.

The Cuban government has not commented involved. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t comment on specific cases, a spokesman said.

? Thomson Reuters 2016