Made In Cuba: Art, Bottle Caps & Trademarks...

Currently, there is an art exhibit featuring Cuban Artists at the Santa Monica Art Studios entitled, "Made In Cuba! Recycling Memory and Culture"...  I read about it earlier this week in the Santa Monica Daily Press (see below):

SMDP, 10.21.2015, page 3, article by Charles Andrews)

note:  The exhibition continues Wed-Sat, Noon-6PM through Nov. 21, 2015... so get there soon or you will miss it!

Among the artwork in this exhibit is one of two mixed media displays that feature bottle caps and labels of a Cuban beer, namely, Bucanero. x-ref:  http://www.cerveceriabucanero.com/english.php

(Source: Made in Cuba art show; Artist: Joel Jover, a well-known artist from Cameguay;
Thumbnail photo included here as "fair use" for academic purposes regarding trademarks.)

Trademarks...

Bucanero is a trademark for beer in Cuba.  For obvious reasons because of the longstanding embargo by the U.S., this beer is not available in the U.S.  Perhaps that will change with the relations between the U.S. and Cuba being normalized by the Obama Administration recently.

Some searches on the web, however, reveal some trademark disputes involving this brand name in the U.S. where it is sold under the name, Cubanero.

     excerpt:  "Brewed at the Bucanero Brewery, Holguin, and sold elsewhere as Bucanero, however due to trademark difficulties it is sold in the UK under the Cubanero Fuerte Label."

     http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=4401 

note: I am informed that Holguin is an area of Cuba known for its exceptional fresh water.

Additionally, a USPTO "TESS" Search reveals a beer registration in the U.S. for Bucanero owned by a Canadian company, as follows:

Word Mark	BUCANERO
Translations	The English translation of BUCANERO in the mark is BUCCANEER.
Goods and Services	IC 032. US 045 046 048. G & S: Beer
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code	(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number	85739858
Filing Date	September 27, 2012
Current Basis	1B
Original Filing Basis	1B
Owner	(APPLICANT) CERBUCO BREWING INC. CORPORATION CANADA 199 BAY ST., STE 2800 COMMERCE CT WEST TORONTO ONTARIO CANADA M5L1A9
Attorney of Record	JEREMY M. ROE
Type of Mark	TRADEMARK
Register	PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE

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Our web searches also revealed that Bucanero is made in Cuba in a joint venture between the Cuban government and the Canadian brewery, Labatts... and it turns out that the owner of the U.S. trademark, namely, Cerbuco Brewing Inc., is a subsidiary of Labatts...  x-ref:  http://www.luxner.com/cgi-bin/view_article.cgi?articleID=1076

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There you have it... or you might if you are lucky enough to visit Canada or Cuba...  Hopefully, we will get it together here in the U.S. so that the Canadians aren't the only ones smoking Cuban cigars and drinking Cuban beer or Cuban coffee for that matter... just sayin'...

Respectfully submitted,

William E. Maguire
www.TrademarkEsq.com

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