Trade embargo bars lawsuit against Bacardi over 'Havana Club' rum, US judge rules

Oct 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. trade embargo against Cuba prevents a Cuba-owned company from suing Bacardi [RIC:RIC:BCARDU.UL] in the United States for infringing trademarks covering "Havana Club" rum in a long-running dispute over the brand name, a Washington, D.C., federal court has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said on Tuesday that Cubaexport, which sells Havana Club outside of the United States with French liquor maker Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA), cannot accuse Bacardi of infringement in the United States, where Bacardi sells a separate Havana Club rum.

Cubaexport attorney David Bernstein said in a statement on Wednesday that the company was disappointed but "confident that the Court will ultimately agree" that it is the mark's "rightful owner." Attorneys and a spokesperson for Bacardi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Bacardi, which was exiled from Cuba after the Cuban Revolution, says the country's government unlawfully seized the Havana Club name and assets from Jose Arechabala SA in 1960. Bacardi bought Jose Arechabala's brand and started selling Havana Club rum in the United States in 1995.

Cubaexport first registered its U.S. Havana Club trademark in 1976. Bacardi sued Cubaexport in Washington in 2004 after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied its request to cancel the mark.

The case was paused from 2007 to 2016, when the USPTO granted Cubaexport's request to renew the mark. Bacardi has sued the USPTO over the renewal in a separate case that a U.S. appeals court revived earlier this year.

Cubaexport countersued Bacardi for trademark infringement in Washington over its Havana Club rum last year. Sullivan dismissed the claim on Tuesday and said that Cubaexport could not enforce its trademark rights against Bacardi in the U.S. because of the embargo.

The case is Bacardi & Co Ltd v. Cubaexport, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:04-cv-00519.