Bacardi Ltd. has announced that the Supreme Court of Spain has decided to hear its appeal in the case over trademark rights to the Havana Club rum brand.

The Bermuda-base spirits company believes the court's decision is a "critically important and successful step" in the case, as the court is highly selective in what cases it reviews.

Bacardi, Jose Arechabala, SA and members of the Arechabala family sued Havana Club Holding, Havana Rum and Liquors, SA, Cubaexport, and the Republic of Cuba in 1999 in Madrid's Court of 1st Instance No.54 to invalidate the Cuban entities' transfer of the registration of the Havana Club trademark in Spain from Jose Arechabala, SA.

Bacardi owns the rights to the Havana Club rum brand, having purchased the trademark from the original legal owners, creators and proprietors of the brand. The Arechabala family created Havana Club rum in 1935 in Cuba and subsequently sold their rum in Spain and other countries.

In 1959, the Arechabala's Havana Club brand and other assets were confiscated by the Cuban government without compensation. In the early 1990s, Cuba signed an agreement with French-based Pernod Ricard to distribute the brand globally through a joint-venture called Havana Club Holding.

Bacardi said it looks forward to full review by the Spanish Supreme Court.