WTDS176The Havana Club Case.ppt

WT/DS176:The Havana Club Case Michael Gray Jae Hoon Kang Fernando Malonado Emad Masumi Kun Zhang Havana Club Case: Four Principle Parties ? Havana’s Arechabala Family : first family to begin making Havana club rum ? State-owned Cuban company : after Cuban revolution, they re-launched Havana club ? Pernod Ricard : French liquor company – later built a joint venture with the state-owned Cuban company ? Bacardi Company : Cuban-American owned company - the world’s biggest rum producer History Behind Havana Club Case During the first half of the twentieth century, the Arechabala family had produced Havana Club rum. This brand came to symbolize good quality. In the 1950s, the rum suffered serious setbacks. Gradually, the Arechabala family relinquished its trademark on the domestic market and the foreign countries where it was registered. For instance, the Havana Club brand name fell into the public domain in Spain and the Dominican Republic in 1955. In 1960, the family’s distillery was nationalized. The Arechabala family emigrated to the U.S. and Spain. In the U.S., the family failed to renew the trademark registration. Therefore, Havana Club fell into the public domain in 1973. In Cuba, however, the state-owned company relaunched Havana Club. They registered the trademark in 80 countries. In 1993, the state-owned Cuban company and Pernod Ricard signed to reach partnership agreement that resulted in boosting the Cuban brand’s sales. The joint venture alarmed Bacardi Co., which until then enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the rum market. Bacardi purchased the right to use the trademark Havana Club in the U.S. from the Arechabala family in the middle of 1990s. Bacardi sold rum from the Bahamas in the U.S. under the Havana Club brand name. Havana Club Dispute:Timeline 15 July 1999 – Request for consultations by the European Community 7 July 2000 – Request for the establishment of a panel by the EC 30 November 2000 – First Written Submission of the EC 15 February 2001 – Rebu