"Bacardi
has filed a Freedom of Information request to bring to light the rationale
behind a decision to hand the Havana Club rum trademark to the Cuban
government, giving Pernod Ricard the right to sell the brand in the US"
The handing back to Cuban government their "Havana Club"trademark is not sitting well with Bacardi to say the least. “We
are filing this Freedom of Information Act request because the American people
have the right to know the truth of how and why this unprecedented, sudden and
silent action was taken by the United States government to reverse
long-standing US. and international public policy and law that protects against
the recognition or acceptance of confiscations of foreign governments,” said
Eduardo Sánchez, senior vice president and general counsel at Bacardi.”
“When the highest and most powerful government
agencies are not transparent about critical changes in policy, the public has
the right and the responsibility to use FOIA requests and other tools at their
disposal to hold the government accountable for its actions.”
It seems that this is just the beginning of a long and drawn out fight again. It took a Supreme Court decision to settle the dispute in 2005. "In
1976, Cuba, which also continued to produce Havana Club, was able to register
the trademark in the United States. But it lost the trademark in 2006 when it
could not present the necessary license to the Treasury Department."
When the embargo is finally lifted, this is going to slow the flow of the Cuban Havana Club Rum to the United States, although, they have also registered an alternate brand name "Havanista" as a stop gap until this dispute is finally settled.
Read More at http://www.havana-live.com/news/2016/02/01/bacardi-fires-latest-salvo-in-havana-club-rum-battle-with-cuba.html
