The Wild Geese serves Bacardi a third IP letter
Whiskey maker The Wild Geese has written a third open letter to drinks brand Bacardi, in the latest development of an ongoing dispute between the alcohol companies.
A public statement was released by The Wild Geese on Wednesday, February 14.
As reported by WIPR, the dispute between the Irish whiskey brand and Bacardi goes back to 2014.
The Wild Geese is the owner of the ‘Untamed’ logo (US trademark number 87,191,609), in international classes 32 and 33, for beverages including beer and spirits. It also owns the earlier registered standard word mark for the same, filed in 2011 and covering alcoholic beverages in international class 33.
The Untamed brand tells the story of the ‘wild geese’, the name given to the Irish diaspora.
Bacardi launched the ‘Bacardi Untameable’ marketing campaign in 2013, according to The Drinks Report, telling the story of the allegedly “untameable” Bacardi family. Bacardi filed to register ‘ Bacardi Untameable’ as a trademark in international class 33 for alcoholic beverages in 2014.
The whiskey maker filed an opposition at the US Patent and Trademark Office on the grounds of priority and likelihood of confusion, as well as launching a website to criticise the campaign. The Wild Geese said Bacardi’s ‘Untameable’ campaign misappropriated the whiskey company’s ‘Untamed’ mark.
The conclusion of the opposition has yet to be reached. However, The Wild Geese has published three open letters to Bacardi during February 2018, each requesting a response as the company “asked nicely but you didn’t answer”.
In the first letter the whiskey maker refers to Bacardi’s reputation as a “Trademark Pirate of the Caribbean”, and said Bacardi “apparently liked our trademark ‘Untamed’” so it created the Bacardi Untameable advertising campaign.
The second letter accused Bacardi of “hiding behind a veil of secrecy in Bermuda, out of reach of the US legal system”. Bacardi has recently lost its battle to keep the operations of its headquarters outside of the US jurisdiction.
“Now it must respond to questions ranging from theft of intellectual property to inconsistent storylines to tax dodging”, the letter continued, adding that, “you know how personal and demanding the creation of intellectual property is”.
The second letter also refers to the lawsuit, which states that for entrepreneurs, IP is “the reward for many sacrifices made over many years, the result of risking everything to create something of value for themselves and their families”.
Published this week, the third letter reiterates the earlier accusations and claims Bacardi tells “contradictory stories” about its history, alleging that “Bacardi received approximately $350 million in subsidies from US taxpayers”. It concludes, “we’re waiting for your answers”.
Speaking to WIPR, a spokesperson for Bacardi said it has consistently prevailed against The Wild Geese's legal challenges to its 'Untameable' trademark.
"We will not comment on the content of the open letters that are clearly issued to attempt to adversely influence the legal process. Bacardi will continue to vigorously protect its rights”, they added.
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