As part of the longstanding US embargo on Cuban exports, Pernod has been unable to sell its Cuban-made Rum in the country – allowing Bermuda-based rival Bacardi to poach the Havana Club trademark for its own concoction, which is produced in Puerto Rico, according to the Wall Street Journal. Should the embargo be lifted, the French company has announced it will launch ‘Havanista’ as its new brand of Cuban rum in the US.
Expensive lawyers
Olivia Lagache, general counsel for Havana Club at Pernod, told The Times newspaper in the UK that the litigation had cost ‘several million dollars’, and that ‘American lawyers are quite expensive.’
The origins of the complex case can be traced to the 1950s and the Arechabala family, who made Havana Club rum in Cuba and exported it to the US before its business was seized by the state. In 1993, Pernod teamed with Cubaexport to buy the brand from the Havana government, but Bacardi trumped them by joining forces with the Arechabala family in the Bahamas to make Havana Club for distribution in the US.
Bacardi law
Pernod sought to take legal action against Bacardi for fraud and deception, but the so-called Bacardi law undermined their claim, as trademarks that had belonged to Cubans – such as the Arechabala’s – before they were forced into exile were forbidden from being registered in the US.
The latest Supreme Court ruling does not actually confer any rights over the Havana Club name to Cuba-founded Bacardi, but Bacardi’s Puerto Rican rum is currently sold in some US states under the brand.
Expensive lawyers
Olivia Lagache, general counsel for Havana Club at Pernod, told The Times newspaper in the UK that the litigation had cost ‘several million dollars’, and that ‘American lawyers are quite expensive.’
The origins of the complex case can be traced to the 1950s and the Arechabala family, who made Havana Club rum in Cuba and exported it to the US before its business was seized by the state. In 1993, Pernod teamed with Cubaexport to buy the brand from the Havana government, but Bacardi trumped them by joining forces with the Arechabala family in the Bahamas to make Havana Club for distribution in the US.
Bacardi law
Pernod sought to take legal action against Bacardi for fraud and deception, but the so-called Bacardi law undermined their claim, as trademarks that had belonged to Cubans – such as the Arechabala’s – before they were forced into exile were forbidden from being registered in the US.
The latest Supreme Court ruling does not actually confer any rights over the Havana Club name to Cuba-founded Bacardi, but Bacardi’s Puerto Rican rum is currently sold in some US states under the brand.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
