{"id":2136,"date":"2026-06-16T17:09:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2136"},"modified":"2026-06-16T17:09:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:09:35","slug":"bacardi-loses-us-appeal-in-long-running-havana-club-trademark-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2136","title":{"rendered":"Bacardi loses US appeal in long-running &#8216;Havana Club&#8217; trademark dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div><ul><li>Companies<\/li><\/ul><\/div><div><ul><li><svg><\/svg><div><div><div><button><span><span>Follow<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><li><svg><\/svg><div><div><div><button><span><span>Follow<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><li><svg><\/svg><div><div><div><button><span><span>Follow<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div>June 16 (Reuters) &#8211; A U.S. appeals court ruled against Bacardi [RIC:RIC:BCARDB.UL] on Tuesday in the company&#8217;s long-running dispute with the Cuban government over the trademark rights to &#8220;Havana Club&#8221; \u200brum in the United States.<\/div><div>The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Bacardi&#8217;s \u200cchallenge<svg><\/svg><span>, opens new tab<\/span> to a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decision to renew Cuba-owned Cubaexport&#8217;s federal &#8220;Havana Club&#8221; trademark in 2016 over the company&#8217;s objections.<\/div><div>An attorney and spokesperson for Bacardi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. A Cubaexport attorney and \u200bUSPTO spokesperson both declined to comment.<\/div><div>The company, which left Cuba after the Cuban Revolution, said \u200bthe Cuban government unlawfully seized the Havana Club name and assets from Jose Arechabala \u2060S.A. after the revolution in 1960. Bacardi bought Jose Arechabala&#8217;s brand, and started selling Havana Club rum \u200bin the U.S. in 1995.<\/div><div>Cubaexport, a state-owned Cuban business, first registered its Havana Club trademark in the U.S. \u200bin 1976. Cubaexport and French spirits company Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA)<svg><\/svg><span>, opens new tab<\/span> sell Havana Club rum outside of the United States.<\/div><div>Pernod, which is not involved in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Tuesday decision.<\/div><div>Cubaexport tried to \u200brenew its U.S. trademark in 2005, but was prevented from doing so after the U.S. Treasury Department&#8217;s \u200bOffice of Foreign Assets Control refused to issue it a license. OFAC changed course and issued the license near the \u200cend of \u2060the Obama administration, and the USPTO renewed Cubaexport&#8217;s trademark in 2016.<\/div><div>Bacardi sued the USPTO in a Virginia federal court in 2021, arguing that Cubaexport&#8217;s trademark should have expired in 2006. U.S. District Judge Liam O&#8217;Grady dismissed the case in 2022, finding that Bacardi could only challenge the mark through trademark office procedures. The 4th \u200bU.S. Circuit Court of \u200bAppeals revived the case in \u20602024.<\/div><div>Then-U.S. President Joe Biden separately enacted a law later in 2024 that bars U.S. courts and agencies from recognizing trademarks confiscated by the Cuban government following the country&#8217;s \u200brevolution.<\/div><div>U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema dismissed the lawsuit again last year. A three-judge \u200b4th Circuit panel \u2060upheld Brinkema&#8217;s ruling on Tuesday.<\/div><div>&#8220;The OFAC license cleared the fog, removing the legal obstacle that had prevented the 2005 transfer from counting as payment,&#8221; the appeals court said. &#8220;What looked incomplete in 2006 was, by 2016, timely and \u2060effective.&#8221;<\/div><div>The \u200bcase is Bacardi &amp; Co Ltd v. Squires, 4th U.S. Circuit Court \u200bof Appeals, No. 25-1355.<\/div><div>For Bacardi: David Zionts of Covington &amp; Burling<\/div><div>For the USPTO: Weili Shaw of the Department of Justice<\/div><div>For Cubaexport: Carl Micarelli \u200bof Debevoise &amp; Plimpton<\/div><div>Read more:<\/div><div>Bacardi loses again in &#8216;Havana Club&#8217; lawsuit against US Trademark Office<\/div><div><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"Blake Brittain\" class=\"wp-image-1840\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0162cb566b83bb333c285ee41e650c45.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>Blake Brittain<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>X<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Linkedin<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><\/div><\/div><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2134\">Yum Brands to sell struggling Pizza Hut chain for $2.7 billion as demand slumps<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2132\">Workday will likely face California claims in sprawling AI bias lawsuit<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2130\">Some at Fed may pencil in a hike. Most won\u2019t. Warsh is a question mark<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A U.S. appeals court ruled against Bacardi [RIC:RIC:BCARDB.UL] on Tuesday in the company&#8217;s long-running dispute with the Cuban government over the trademark rights to &#8220;Havana Club&#8221; \u200brum in the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[92,35,26],"class_list":["post-2136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-appellate","tag-intellectual-property","tag-litigation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bacardi loses US appeal in long-running &#039;Havana Club&#039; trademark dispute - Reliable Moving Crews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=2136\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bacardi loses US appeal in long-running &#039;Havana Club&#039; 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