U.S. rum drinkers, rejoice! The 10-year dispute over the U.S. rights to the Havana Club trademark that pitted Bacardi Ltd. against Cuba’s government and Pernod Ricard SA seems to have ended, clearing the way for the spirit to go on sale in the U.S. again.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Aug. 3 declared Cuba’s registration of Havana Club “canceled/expired,” according to a statement published yesterday on Business Wire by Bacardi. (No web link available.) Six days earlier, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control denied a Cuban government agency a license required to seek renewal of the trademark, Bacardi said. The company has an application pending to register the trademark in its own name.
The relaunch starts this month. Pernod plans to appeal, according to a statement on its Web site.