Pernod Ricard scores victory in Havana Club dispute

[Osolomia]

Mon February 2, 2004 07:00 PM ET

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday that a U.S. patent appeal board upheld its registration of the Havana Club trademark in the United States, handing the French spirits group a victory in long-standing dispute with Bacardi USA.

In a joint venture with the Cuban government, Pernod Ricard has been selling Havana Club-brand rum worldwide, although a four-decade old embargo against Cuba bars Pernod Ricard from selling the product in the United States.

But privately held Bacardi challenged the registration of the brand in the United States, saying it had purchased the trademark from its original owner.

An appeal board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled last week that the Cuban-French venture had properly filed a U.S. registration renewal for the brand in 1996, Pernod Ricard said.

... Bacardi had sued under a five-year-old law known as Section 211 that prohibits the U.S. government from honoring trademarks confiscated by foreign governments.

The World Trade Organization said in 2002 that Section 211 violated international property protection rights. The United States has until the end of 2004 to comply with the ruling.

More...
http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=4266644

[Judi Lynn]

1. Never thought I'd see this day, did you?

_{Jeb Bush} isn't going to like this one little bit, although JUSTICE HAS TRIUMPHED, finally!

He's been in there, pushing and shoving for YEARS. See the following:

(snip) Page printed from: http://www.law.com
Trademark Court Gets Jeb's E-Mails on Bacardi

Dan Christensen, Miami Daily Business Review, first print 03-19-2003

Jeb bush's illegal push for Bacardi

Dozens of e-mails detailing a lobbying campaign by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his staff on behalf of Bacardi Ltd. have been filed with a U.S. trademark court as evidence of illegal "political pressure" by the president's brother.

Havana Club Holdings S.A., a joint venture between Cuba and France's Pernod Ricard, is using the governor's e-mail traffic to try to convince three administrative law judges at the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to reconsider a Jan. 21 ruling that Bush's one-sided contacts with U.S. Patent and Trade Office officials did not break any law.

Federal rules prohibit ex parte communications on the merits of a case between interested parties and certain agency officials.

The governor's e-mails flowed while the world's biggest rum maker and its Miami-based executives poured tens of thousands of dollars into the political war chests of Bush and the Florida Republican Party -- more than $200,000 since 1998, the Miami Daily Business Review reported in October.

The e-mail correspondence, which reads like a how-to guide to turning up the heat on federal political appointees, shows that Bush and his staff pressured various federal agencies to favor Bacardi in its long-running fight over the U.S. rights to the Havana Club rum label.
(snip)

http://news4florida.tripod.com/index.lawhtml
This is surely something to celebrate, woo HOOOOO!


Uh, oh. We may get buzzed by a former DU poster who contributed heartily to the Cuba threads who was glad to inform readers he had worked for Bacardi. He may wish to contribute the benefit of his views.

Don't forget, OTTO REICH, _{George W. Bush's} pet recess appointment Cuba expert was a Bacardi lobbyist, as well.

[robcon]

2. Hey JudiLyn, I think it's me that you're referring to in your post.

I worked for Pernod-Ricard, not Bacardi. My information on what's really happenening in Cuba (in contrast to your apologies for repression) is from my associates who worked on Havana Club and our joint venture with the Cuban government.

This is great news.

[Judi Lynn]

3. It's truly interesting news, no doubt about it.

The poster stated he worked for Bacardi, robcon. Think it was a different guy, one who felt he should try to label anti-embargo people as "apologists."

Filthy habit, and crude.

[Osolomia]

8. "in contrast to your apologies for repression" this one's for you bud!

Just one of the latest in a steady stream of eye witness accounts in newspapers across the country for several years now:

Friday January 30, 2004
Speaker to discuss situation in Cuba
By ALICIA LEUPP
Aggie Staff Writer

When Carol Cross traveled to Cuba in 1992, she expected a vacation. What she got instead was an eye-opening experience that incited her to activism.

Cross worked in Cuba with Pastors for Peace, a goodwill organization, and will share her experiences at the Davis Community Church on Sunday.

"Cuba is a really good example of how societies can work for the betterment of their people," she said in an interview Tuesday. "I love the example Cuba has set for the world, and I keep trying to tell people about that."

... Cross joined Pastors for Peace in 1993 following her return from Cuba, where the conditions created by the trade embargo made her despondent.

"I didn't go there to learn about Cuba, really - I went there as a tourist - but I came home sick at heart about U.S. policy," she said.

... "Cuba offers an alternative to the way our government interacts with our people; they offer an alternative that's humane and puts people first," Cross said. "I think it's a much healthier way to live emotionally and economically."

Cross will be speaking at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., and will be available for questions between talks. Her morning presentation will focus on her work with Pastors for Peace, while the afternoon talk will be a more general discussion of democracy in Cuba.

More...
http://www.californiaaggie.com/article/?id=2374

[Judi Lynn]

10. Another expression of respect for what they're doing in Cuba

It surely isn't the first anyone has ever seen from Cuba travelers, either.

That's probably one reason _Bush is so damned determined to completely bar travel to Cuba for ALL non-Cuban "exile" Americans. He no doubt wouldn't want us ALL to know just how decent the people are he plans to destroy if he gets his chance.

(snip)"I don't want to be overly dramatic, but I think that if we're going to survive as a species, we have to learn some better ways to interact with others and the outside world," she said.(snip)

[markses]

4. If it weren't Illegal, Havana Club would be my favorite!

Far be it from me to circumvent US sanctions on the people of Cuba, but were I to have the gall to do so, I might from time to time get a case of Havana Club - some light and dark, 3 ano, 5 ano, 7 ano - up in Montreal and bring it back, and stock my home bar for summer parties. That would be wrong, of course, but so delicious, a Havana Club Dark, with ice, or a Cuba Libre, or a nice Mojito, mmmmmm.

If I were worse, I would also pick up a box of Montecristo #5 and smoke one while I sipped on straight Havana Club Dark 5 ano. Oh, terrible - a moral outrage really!

;-)

[Vogon_Glory]

5. I Know Of a Villain Who

I know of a villain who used to smuggle back a few Cuban cigars from his overseas trips. Unfortunately, the fellow got interested in scuba diving and realized to his consternation that his luggage attracted baggage screeners like honey attracts flies, so he no longer flies in with them.

The last time he tried, he took advantage of the fact that if he drove to a cruise ship terminal instead of flying, he had better chances of bringing back the goodies.

I know that customs inspection has traditionally been tighter on the Mexican border than on the Canadian frontier. Has the Boosh regime decided to pull away more customs agents from keeping an eye out for terrorist materials for looking for more Cuban cigars and rum?

[markses]

6. If someone were to do something like this

They might be asked at the Canadian border: Did you buy anything during your stay? And they might take advantage of their general whiteness and bourgeois appearance and indicate that they purchased several sweaters, or some other such innocuous item that a really dumbass American would buy on a stay in Montreal, and thereby be loaded with rum for five months or more.

Any person doing such things, of course, is scum of the first magnitude...;-)

[Mika]

7. Turned into a scofflaw by your own government

Its unreal that Americans have to jump thru hoops, and resort to black market smuggling in order to travel or trade.


Why not push our party to end the sanctions on Cuba and Americans?




Sadly, only ONE candidate for
US president openly states that he
would end the unjust and insane
policy of sanctions and embargoes
against Cuba AND Americans.

That candidate is Dennis Kucinich.

-The Democratic Presidential Candidates on Cuba-
http://www.lawg.org/pages/new%20pages/Misc/prez-candidates1.htm

[Osolomia]

9. Now if only a Dem prez would camapign to repeal the Bacardi Act

(aka Helms-Burton) the Democratic Party might have an ethical leg to stand on.