Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Bob Menendez
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere, today reintroduced the bicameral, bipartisan No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act. Joining the Senators in presenting this legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives are Representatives Darrell Issa (R-Calif.-48) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.-25). This bill would prohibit U.S. courts and executive branch agencies from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual of a trademark used in connection with a business or assets confiscated by the Cuban regime, unless the original owner of the trademark expressly consented to the transfer of the trademark.
“Any confiscation or seizure of assets by the Cuban regime is and will always be a criminal act that should not be rewarded by the U.S. government,” said Sen. Menendez. “This legislation would codify into law longstanding U.S. policy of supporting rightful owners of stolen property by guaranteeing that American courts and the executive branch only recognize the rights of those whose trademarks were illegally taken by the Cuban government.”
“There is bipartisan support to protect Americans who had property stolen by the Cuban regime. For years, the Cuban dictatorship has benefited from the confiscation of property. We must ensure that federal agencies and U.S. courts will not recognize, or validate any trademark rights that were illegally stolen from the rightful owners by the Cuban regime,” said Sen. Rubio.
“This legislation is about more than one circumstance. It is the righting of a historical wrong and clear acknowledgement of the inherent value of intellectual property and the inviolable ownership of one’s ideas and creations,” said Rep. Issa. “This legislation makes a technical correction to our law, but one that will ensure that the protections of our laws apply to all parties claiming U.S. rights to confiscated Cuban trademarks – regardless of nationality.”
“We are obligated to protect American companies who have been victimized by intellectual property theft and fraud, especially at the hands of adversarial foreign governments,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “This legislation prohibits U.S. courts and executive branch agencies from validating an assertion of trademark rights in connection with a business or assets confiscated by the Cuban government. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join us in reaffirming that the United States will not tolerate trademarks being held hostage.”
The No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act would prohibit the use of a trademark when the individual asserting trademark rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquisition that the trademark was the same or substantially similar to the trademark or name used in connection with a U.S. business or asset confiscated by the Cuban government.
For example, in 1994, a Cuban rum-maker, Cuba Ron, filed for and received a U.S. trademark on the name “Havana Club,” named after a club that the Cuban regime seized in 1959. Around the same time Cuba Ron filed for a trademark, Bacardí, one of the world’s largest liquor producers based in Puerto Rico, purchased the trademark and recipe from descendants of the original Havana Club founder and owner. This legislation would prohibit Cuba Ron and its partner, Pernod Ricard, from exercising rights related to Havana Club given that the Cuban regime illegally seized it, and thus allowing Bacardi to use the trademark it rightly owns.
Joining Sens. Menendez and Rubio in the Senate in cosponsoring this legislation are Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
The full text of the bill can be found HERE.
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