Washington, March 13 (RHC)--Anti-Cuban senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menéndez (D-NJ) has introduced legislation seeking to ban official recognition or trademark rights of Cuban brands in the United States.

The bipartisan and bicameral bill  "No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act. ", would affect brands supposedly linked with nationalized properties after the triumph of the Revolution in January 1959. A complementary bill was presented in the House of Representatives by the congressmen Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) and John Rutherford (R-FL).

Its purpose is to prohibit US courts from "recognizing, enforcing or otherwise validating" any assertion of rights by an individual of a trademark that was used in connection with a business or assets that were nationalized by Cuba, unless "the original owner of the brand has expressly consented, "says Telesur.

To illustrate the case, Rubio mentioned in a press release the legal battle between the Bacardi company against Cuba for the rights of the Havana Club brand. In 1993, Pernod Ricard S. A. and Corporación Cuba Ron S. A. launched the joint venture in charge of the production, marketing and commercialization of the Havana Club throughout the world.

Bacardi inscribed in the United States the right to use Havana Club in the United States, which was registered since 1974, through the commercialization of a rum produced in Puerto Rico. However, the US Patent and Trademark Office ignored this claim and in 2016 designated the state company Cubaexport as the legitimate international representative of the renowned Havana Club rum,  dismissing Bacardi.

The bill would prohibit the association Pernod Ricard / Cuba Ron from using the rights related to Havana Club, as part of an additional action to further reinforce the economic blockde against the island.