Court favors Bacardi in Havana Club dispute

Posted on Wednesday, 04.07.10
Court favors Bacardi in Havana Club dispute
BY ELAINE WALKER
ewalker@MiamiHerald.com

Bacardi has added another legal victory to its tally in its long-running
dispute with Pernod Ricard over the right to sell Havana Club rum.

A U.S. judge rejected a lawsuit by Pernod Ricard that sought to block
Bacardi from selling Havana Club rum in the United States.

The suit filed by Pernod in 2006 in the U.S. District Court in
Wilmington, Del., came after Bacardi USA launched the Havana Club rum in
Miami. The rum is made in Puerto Rico using the recipe developed by the
Arechabala family, who created the rum brand in 1935.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson is just the latest volley
in the trademark dispute over who has the rights to the Havana Club
trademark. It's a battle that has dragged on for more than a decade,
winding its way through a variety of courts and government agencies.

Bacardi executives hailed the court's ruling.

``We believe this decision is important in that it protects our ability
to accurately portray the Cuban heritage and geographic origin of our
rums,'' John Esposito, president and chief executive officer of Coral
Gables-based Bacardi USA, said in a statement.

``This is yet another court decision supporting Bacardi's legitimate and
rightful usage of the Havana Club rum trademark and brand.''

Pernod currently sells rum under the Havana Club name internationally,
while Bacardi uses the trademark in the United States.

The focus of Pernod's current argument was that using the Havana Club
name for a rum not made in Cuba would be misleading to consumers.

Robinson decided that Bacardi's Havana Club rum has a ``Cuban
heritage,'' derived from the Arechabala family recipe. In her 22-page
ruling, Judge Robinson also found that because Bacardi's labels
``truthfully [and prominently]'' show that its rum is ``distilled and
crafted in Puerto Rico,'' the labels are ``neither false nor misleading.''

Pernod Ricard USA issued a statement saying it ``believes that this
decision is legally and factually incorrect, and that the continued sale
of Puerto Rican rum under the Havana Club name would deceive consumers.''

The company said it intends to appeal the decision to the United States
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/07/1567564/court-favors-bacardi-in-havana.html