Bacardi Ltd. wants to revive its federal lawsuit against Pernod Ricard and its Cuban government partner, asking the court to cancel the Cuban government’s Havana Club U.S. trademark based on alleged fraud.
An amended complaint filed Tuesday with U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington seeks to rekindle a case that had been stayed since 2007 involving two of the world’s largest spirits companies and Cubaexport, a Cuban government agency. In January, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office permitted the Cuba government to renew its Havana Club registration retroactively, surprising Bacardi and leading it to take up the court fight again.
