Bacardi Protests Renewal Of Cuba's Rum Trademark In The US
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CORAL GABLES (CBSMiami/AP) — Bacardi is asking for more information on the U.S. government's decision to allow Cuba to sell Havana Club rum in America.
Last month, the U.S. renewed the Havana Club trademark for state-owned Cubaexport. Bacardi and Cubaexport have tangled in court for nearly 20 years over the trademark.
Bacardi has been selling its own brand of Havana Club rum, distilled in Puerto Rico, here since the 1990s. Cubaexport owns the trademark in the rest of the world.
In a statement Monday, Bermuda-based Bacardi said it filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Department of Treasury over the trademark's renewal, which it contends violates "the language and spirit of U.S. law."
Bacardi general counsel Eduardo Sanchez called the renewal "unprecedented, sudden and silent."
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