Cuban Rum Wars Reignited Over Bacardi's 'Havana Club' Campaign

Cuban Rum Wars Reignited Over Bacardi's 'Havana Club' Campaign
by CARMEN SESIN

Miami, Fla. — Bacardi has launched an eye-catching advertising campaign
for its rum line "Havana Club," signaling an ongoing battle between the
company and the Cuban government over the iconic trademark.

Bacardi introduced a dark rum called Havana Club Añejo Clasico with an
ad campaign that conjures the period in Cuba before the Castro
revolution - "The Golden Age, Aged Well." One of the campaign's tag
lines is "The Freedom, The Decadence, The Dazzle, The Glamour. If Only
Someone Had Bottled It."

The new rum is produced in Puerto Rico and double-aged in oak barrels,
and will be selling in several U.S. markets this summer.

Fabio Di Giammarco, Global Vice President of rums for Bacardi, said to
NBC News Latino that one of the reasons for the timing of their launch
is because "we see a trend of consumers seeking authentic product
stories, and Havana Club has a lot of story to tell."

And during the past couple of decades, Havana Club truly has had a lot
of story to tell. Bacardi, the largest privately held spirits maker in
the world, says they are the rightful owners of Havana Club because they
purchased the recipe and rights to the trademark from the family who
founded it. They have been selling Havana Club since 1995.

But the French company Pernod Ricard says the trademark belongs to their
Cuban partner Cubaexport. Pernod made a deal with Cuba's communist-run
government's Cubaexport in 1993, to distribute their version of Havana
Club around the world. The trademark was recently renewed by the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office.

To better understand the clash over the trademark, one must go back
several decades. The Arechabala family was making rum in Cuba — under
the name Havana Club - since 1934 and even selling it in the U.S.
market. After the 1959 revolution, Cuban distilleries were seized by the
Cuban government. The Arechabala family went into exile after losing
their business, as did the Bacardi family. Bacardi, founded in 1862, was
a top rum maker in Cuba before its assets were confiscated.

But the Bacardi business did not end after the revolution because they
had already built distilleries in Puerto Rico and Mexico. After
purchasing the Havana Club recipe and trademark from the Arechabala
family in 1994, Bacardi applied for a U.S. trademark. But the
Arechabalas' registration had lapsed in 1973 and the Cuban government
seized the opportunity and registered Havana Club as theirs.

Bacardi and Cubaexport - along with Pernod - have been fighting over the
trademark for the past couple of decades. Earlier this year, the U.S.
patent office renewed Cubaexport's registration of the Havana Club
trademark. Until then, Cubaexport had not been able to renew the
registration because the U.S. trade embargo prevented it from paying the
registration fee. But the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control changed
its mind in January and allowed Cuba to pay the fee and register Havana
Club as theirs again.

"The legal battle is based on sound principles of protecting property
rights from illegal confiscations without confiscation. That should be a
personal as well as a business principle to live by, believe in, and to
protect," said Rick Wilson, Bacardi's Senior Vice President of external
affairs and corporate responsibility.

The day the embargo is lifted, the Cuban government will be able to
export its Havana Club to the U.S., which makes ownership of the
trademark appealing to both sides.

In the meantime, the trademark showdown continues in U.S. District Court
in Washington, D.C.

Bacardi's advertising campaign will focus on Miami, Atlanta, Chicago,
Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Denver, Las Vegas, New York City, and
Philadelphia. Its two new products - Havana Club Añejo Clasico and
Havana Club Añejo Blanco - will pop up in Florida first and in other
markets throughout the summer. A bottle of Havana Club Añejo Clasico
will go for $21.99 and Havana Club Añejo Blanco will go for $19.99.

Source: Cuban Rum Wars Reignited Over Bacardi's 'Havana Club' Campaign -
NBC News -
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuban-rum-wars-reignited-over-bacardi-havana-club-campaign-n585241