By Edward Alden in Washington. June 13 2001.
Financial Times
The European Union has won a partial victory in efforts to overturn a US law
that blocks Pernod-Ricard, the French drinks company, from enforcing its
trademark on the "Havana Club" brand of Cuban rum.
A World Trade Organisation panel ruled on Tuesday that the law is in partial
violation of US obligations under the agreement on intellectual property. The US
and the EU were told the confidential interim decision on Tuesday.
But one person familiar with the complex ruling said the decision is not a
clear victory for either side.
The US Congress in 1999, under pressure from Bacardi, the US rum maker which
claims to be the legal owner of Havana Club, passed a provision that blocks
Pernod Ricard from enforcing the trademark in US courts. The company, which has
held the trademark since 1993 through a joint venture with a Cuban rum maker,
has been unable to register the popular brand in the US.
© Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2001. | 