Bacardi Loses Appellate Decision To Cubaexport, But Victory May Be Brief As 2024 U.S. Law Prevents Trademark Renewal
/UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 25-1355 (1:21-cv-01441-LMB-IDD)
BACARDI & COMPANY LIMITED; BACARDI USA, INC., Plaintiffs – Appellants v. JOHN A. SQUIRES, in his official capacity as the Director of the United States Patent & Trademark Office; UNITED STATES PATENT & TRADEMARK OFFICE, Defendant – Appellee, and EMPRESA CUBANA EXPORTADORA DE ALIMENTOS Y PRODUCTOS VARIOS, Intervenor/Defendant - Appellee
J U D G M E N T
In accordance with the decision of this court, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.
RICHARDSON, Circuit Judge: This spirited trademark dispute lands before our Court yet again. In 2005, Cubaexport applied to renew a trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). But Cubaexport’s payment of renewal fees was legally void without a specific license issued by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). For over a decade, OFAC refused to issue that license. Then, in 2016, it issued a license retroactively authorizing Cubaexport’s 2005 payment. Based on the issuance of that license, the PTO approved Cubaexport’s renewal filing. Bacardi argues that the PTO exceeded its statutory authority and acted arbitrarily and capriciously by granting renewal ten years after the renewal deadline. We disagree. OFAC’s 2016 license validated Cubaexport’s 2005 payment, removing the sole legal obstacle to renewal. So we affirm.
12/09/2025 ORAL ARGUMENT heard before the Honorable Paul V. Niemeyer, Julius N. Richardson and Allison J. Rushing. Attorneys arguing case: David Meir Zionts for Appellants Bacardi and Company Limited and Bacardi USA, Incorporated, Carl Jonas Micarelli for Appellee Empresa Cubana Exportadora de Alimentos y Productos Varios and Weili Justin Shaw for Appellees United States Patent & Trademark Office and Coke Morgan Stewart. Courtroom Deputy: E. Borneisen. [1001890787] [25-1355] JK
06/15/2026 ORDER filed substituting party John A. Squires for Coke Morgan Stewart. Copies to all parties. [1001997220] [25-1355] TW
06/16/2026 PUBLISHED AUTHORED OPINION filed. Originating case number: 1:21-cv-01441-LMB-IDD. [1001997669] [25-1355] KH
06/16/2026 PUBLISHED JUDGMENT ORDER filed. Decision: Affirmed. Originating case number: 1:21-cv-01441-LMB-IDD. Entered on Docket Date: 06/16/2026. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [1001997688] [25-1355] KH
