U.S. courts allow Puerto Rican rum to be sold under Havana Club brand.
Rum producer Bacardi has won its battle to sell "Cuban" rum made in Puerto Rico in the United States.
On Monday (May 14) the Supreme Court refused to hear arguments from rival drinks company Pernod Ricard, concerning a bitter trademark war.
The court's decision to turn back an appeal means that Bacardi can continue selling its popular Havana Club brand of rum in the United States, while Pernod – which controls the original Cuba-made Havana Club – left the court empty-handed.
The two spirits behemoths have been battling over the Havana Club rum brand since the 1990s, when Bacardi launched its Puerto Rico-made version to sell in the United States, taking advantage of Washington's embargo on Cuban imports.
French-owned Pernod, which sells its Cuba-made Havana Club elsewhere around the world in a joint venture with the Cuban government, had fought to retain the original United States rights to the name – in the hope that Washington would eventually make peace with Havana and remove the embargo.
The dispute is ultimately rooted in the Cuban communist revolution that sparked the embargo. After Fidel Castro took power in Havana in 1959, the new Cuban government seized control of the distillery founded and owned by the Arechabala family. Eventually, it gave Pernod the rights to the Havana Club brand name in a joint venture. But at the same time, the Arechabala family, who had fled the country after the revolution, sold their claim to Bacardi.
After the Supreme Court ruling on Monday, Pernod said its joint venture still retained rights over the Havana Club brand in its 120 markets worldwide. But it added that it had already registered a new brand name for the United States market – Havanista – ready for the day that the import ban is lifted and the company is able to sell a true Cuba-made rum in America.
Source: Wine-Searcher
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