Bacardi Shielded From ‘Havana Club’ Trademark Claim by Embargo

A federal embargo law bars a Cuban rum seller from enforcing its “Havana Club” trademark registration against Bacardi USA Inc., a Washington, D.C., federal court said.

Bacardi sued Empresa Cubana Exportadora de Alimentos in 2004 to reverse a trademark tribunal’s refusal to cancel the registration in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Cubana Exportadora—which operates as Cubaexport—counterclaimed that Bacardi infringes its mark for “Havana Club,” which Cubaexport sells abroad.

The Wednesday opinion by District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan found that a 1998 law’s prohibition on US courts enforcing trademark rights confiscated by the Cuban government controls in ...