A Bacardi executive has testified at a US Congress
subcommittee hearing as the group continues to fight what is calls a
“sudden and unexplained” trademark ruling over Havana Club rum.
Lawmakers are scrutinizing the decision to
allow Pernod Ricard and the Cuban government to renew their Havana Club
trademark in the US. In January this
year, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the US Patent &
Trademark Office (PTO) granted French drinks group Pernod Ricard permission to renew it's Havana Club
trademark in the US, where Bacardi has its own trademark for Havana Club
rum. Due to a trade embargo between US
and Cuba, which has been in place since 1961 when the Cuban revolution led to
communism, Pernod Ricard has been unable to launch Cuba-made Havana Club in the
US.
Bacardi
has been selling its own brand of Havana Club rum, made in Puerto Rico, in
the US since the mid-1990's. However,
Pernod Ricard owns the Havana Club trademark in the rest of the world as part
of a joint venture with the Cuban government, which seized assets from the
founding family of Havana Club during the revolution. Bacardi has expressed outrage since the US
Office of Foreign Assets Control issued its ruling last month, allowing
Cubaexport, the Cuban entity that owns the US trademark registration for Havana
Club, to renew its trademark in the US.
While Pernod Ricard cannot sell Havana Club in the US due to the
embargo, it has previously owned a trademark for the brand in the country.
But the US government rejected an application to renew rights to the mark in
2006 since its “contravened US foreign policy”. As
such, Bacardi claims the ruling has “reversed long-standing US and
international public policy and law”.
The US
House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into
the matter and recently called Rick Wilson, senior vice president for external
affairs at Bacardi, to take the witness stand during its hearing. “These decisions are unprecedented and
shocking because they undo decades of United States law and policy by approving
Cuba’s efforts to capitalize on, and traffic, in stolen goods,” Wilson said in
his opening testimony. “Courts in the
United States have steadfastly held that foreign confiscations will not be
given effect because such confiscations are ‘shocking to our sense of
justice’.”
‘Confiscation at gunpoint’
Wilson
also argued that Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), which implement the
trade embargo against Cuba, prohibit all transactions involving property,
including trademarks, if the Cuban Government “has any interest”, unless
authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury. He
said a loophole in the embargo was closed in 1998, allowing Bacardi and other
companies to “ensure Cuba does not profit off of stolen property, especially
through US trademark registrations and renewals”. Of
Cuba’s confiscation of the Havana Club trademark in the 1960's, Wilson said:
“What occurred was a forcible confiscation at gunpoint. Pernod Ricard, knowing
all of this sordid history, chose to invest with Cuba in this stolen brand.
“For
decades, the United States has prevented Cuba and its business partners from
profiting off the United States Havana Club registration – it should continue
to do so.” House
Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatt said: “This week the IP subcommittee
will examine the issue of confiscated property in Cuba.
“The
Cuban government, led by Fidel Castro, has stolen billions in property,
including homes and businesses, owned by Americans and American
investors. Perhaps the most recognised case is that of the Arechabala
Family liquor business, which had its trademark for Havana Club Rum seized by
the Cuban government and then licensed to another company against the family’s
wishes.
“As
the Obama Administration looks to improve relations with Cuba, important
questions remain about how these claims will be satisfied.”
Read More at https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/02/us-congress-scrutinises-havana-club-ruling/
