Bacardi Has Small Hiccup on FEC Form
By The Washington Post

The Bacardi USA Political Action Committee left blank two sections of an amended statement of organization, , according to the Washington Post.

The careless act prompted the Federal Election Commission to send the group a reminder note Friday that it needed to include addresses for its treasurer and affiliated banks.

In the first quarter of 2014, Bacardi USA made just one donation – $1,000 to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who took over as chairman of the powerful Finance Committee this year. The PAC, in 2013, gave that amount to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and to a victory fund for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who is also the Democratic National Committee chairwoman.

Bacardi’s political arm gave $2,500 to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), once the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the first Cuban American elected to Congress. Bacardi was founded in Cuba, but left over family opposition to Fidel Castro.

Read the full story on WashingtonPost.com.

Tiny Whiskey Company Wild Geese Goes To Battle With Liquor Giant Bacardi Over Trademark Law
By Buzzfeed Business

Chances are only the most fervent of whiskey drinkers has heard of The Wild Geese Company. At least that appears to be the bet spirits Goliath Barcardi was making when it recently launched a new “untameable” advertising campaign that the much smaller boutique distillery claims infringes on its trademark rights, Buzzfeed reported.

Wild Geese holds the trademark to the “untamed” slogan, and, in a recently filed complaint with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, claimed Barcardi’s new campaign too closely resembles its own and violates its intellectual property. Though trademark fights are common in the spirits, beverage, and other industries, Wild Geese is taking its dispute with Bacardi to another level. Andre Levy, the chairman of parent company, Avalon Group, has been meeting with congressional staffers and has hired a lobbying firm to push for a change to the laws dictating U.S. intellectual property litigation. Namely, Levy is sick of “the little guys” having to back down in lawsuits with major brand competitors that have infinitely more resources to throw at a lawsuit and wants to level the playing field.

A representative for Bacardi declined comment for this story.

“It’s a dangerous precedent Bacardi is trying to set by using a name and trying to have people associate it with their product,” Levy said. “The problem that presents to entrepreneurs is it really creates a wild West scenario with intellectual property. Because they’re better known, they’re saying there will be no confusion between the two trademarks.”

See the full story on Buzzfeed.com.

Irish Whiskey Brand Takes on Bacardi Over Trademark
by Bloomberg Businessweek

Andre Levy, a British liquor marketer grappling with some of the world’s largest spirits conglomerates, hopes for a fairer shake in the court of public opinion, according to an article in Bloomberg Businessweek.

In 2000, Levy launched a whiskey brand called Wild Geese. To Levy and his Irish wife Mairade, who live in Switzerland, the brand clearly evoked the story of 17^th century Irish soldiers, known as the Wild Geese, who fled to France at the end of a war with the English.

Last year, Bacardi sought to register the phrase “Bacardi Untameable” with the USPTO. Levy filed an objection and hopes to persuade the trademark office that Bacardi’s application, if approved, would violate his existing mark.

He worries that Bacardi will continue using its phrase, regardless of what the trademark office rules. “We would have to take Bacardi to court,”  Levy told Bloomberg Businessweek. “That would take years and cost substantial amounts of money.”

For the full story visit, http://www.businessweek.com

Wild Geese launches campaign against Bacardi
By SpiritsBusiness.com

Brand owner Avalon Group claims Bacardi’s new global marketing campaign, which was launched in November last year, is a “cut and paste” of the Untamed trademark owned by The Wild Geese, which has been registered in over 100 markets worldwide since 2011,  the SpiritsBusiness.com reported.

The British Virgin Islands-based group is combating Bacardi’s registration of the Untameable trademark in several markets, and has successfully halted its registration with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which according to Avalon, had neglected to consider The Wild Geese trademark.

Andre Levy, chairman of Avalon distributor Protégé International, told The Spirits Business: “Bacardi are using our trademark to sell their products. It’s not just the trademark, but the look and feel of what we’ve done with Wild Geese is almost a cut and paste job.”

Now Avalon has launched the BacardiControversial.com website, Facebook page and Twitter hashtag in a bid to highlight what it claims are “bullying tactics” used by large corporations to “steal” smaller companies’ ideas.

“We want to make a difference and highlight what is happening all the time and come up with a creative solution that will actually stop this, and that’s what we’re trying to do with the Bacardi Controversial campaign,” Levy said.

“The copying of somebody’s design is literally stealing the thousands of hours you’ve put into something. It’s devaluing the sacrifices you’ve made, the intellectual investment and emotional investment.”

For the full story visit SpiritsBusiness.com.

The following story was posted by www.just-drinks.com :

GLOBAL: Avalon Group Launches Campaign Against Bacardi over ‘Untamed’ Trademark

Avalon Group, the makers of Wild Geese Irish whiskey, has launched an online campaign over claims that Bacardi‘s latest global advertising campaign is too similar to the marketing for its own brands.

Bacardi launched its campaign ‘Bacardi Untameable’ for its namesake rum brand in November last year. However, British Virgin Islands-based Avalon, claims that it has had the trademark ‘Untamed’ registered around the world since 2011.

Avalon says it has used the term “Untamed” to market its full portfolio – including Untamed Revolutionary Rum, Untamed Vodka and The Exiles Gin – since 2009.

Avalon has launched a website – Bacardi-Controversial – flagging up its concerns, including a Facebook page and Twitter hashtag. The company has also taken the issue up with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Speaking to just-drinks today (14 April), Andre Levy, chairman of Protege International, which handles the marketing of Avalon’s brands, said: “They (Bacardi) knew about us and set out to emulate what we’ve done.

“We decided to take a different approach to show this is what Bacardi are doing.”

Levy said his company has challenged Bacardi’s trademark applications “where we’ve found them”. He added: “We will ultimately end up in litigation.”

When contacted by just-drinks today, a Bacardi spokesperson declined to comment.

Read the story on just-drinks.com.