The Cuban government seized Bacardi’s assets in Cuba in 1960. While the assignee of those rights may not lawfully utilize the mark in the U.S., the U.S. government will not extinguish any rights the assignee may have in the U.,S. Bacardi has been fighting this for decades. Coverage of the HAVANA CLUB saga here.

Text of complaint in Bacardi v PTO: bacardi v pto complaint

Prior Trademark Blog posts on the history of HAVANA CLUB and other Cuban trademarks here.