Rivero Mestre partner, Amanda McGovern, moderated a panel for the Latin America & Caribbean Committee at the American Bar Association (ABA) International Law Fall Conference, “One Cuba Libre, Please”: Havana Club, Bacardi and the Cuban IP Conundrum on October 25, 2017. Panelists will include Jose Fernandez (Carnival Corporation), Jose Rojas (DLD Lawyers), and William R. Trueba, Jr. (Espinosa Trueba Martinez).

About the session:

This roundtable discussion considered the recently reignited Havana Club rum litigation, a case study in the opportunities and challenges of intellectual property litigation related to Cuba. Since the 1980s, Bacardi, the distributor of Havana Club in the U.S., has been embroiled in on-and-off lawsuits against Cubaexport and Pernod Ricard, the joint venture that owns the Havana Club mark in Cuba. With the recent opening of commercial relations with Cuba and the PTO’s renewal of the Cuban-owned mark in the U.S., this litigation has reached uncharted territory. Using the example of the Havana Club case, the panel explored how U.S. firms should litigate intellectual property disputes with Cuban entities. The panel focused on both the U.S. and Cuban intellectual property regimes, the international players involved, and the role of the embargo in U.S.-Cuba commercial litigation.

About Rivero Mestre LLP

Rivero Mestre, from its offices in Miami and New York, represents clients from investigation to verdict and appeal in complex business disputes in U.S. federal courts, state courts, and domestic and international arbitration proceedings. The firm’s practice focuses primarily on representing clients in a broad range of complex commercial disputes including financial institution matters, antitrust matters, intellectual property disputes, and litigation and arbitration relating to Latin American trade and investment. For more information, visit www.riveromestre.com.