March 3, 2025
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Heineken’s Lagunitas Brewery has reportedly advanced its trademark and copyright claims over its "La Tropical" beer in a legal battle involving Cuban-origin brands.
As reported by Bloomberg, the case is part of a larger trend of disputes surrounding brands confiscated during the Cuban revolution. Specifically, it focuses on Heineken’s rights to La Tropical, a beer originally created in Cuba in the 1880s by a family that re-established the brand in Miami in 1998.
This case centres around palm trees in beer branding. In 2017, Heineken acquired the intellectual property rights to "La Tropical". A year later, Soltura launched its beer, Cerveza Palma, inspired by Cuba’s top-selling beer, Cerveza Cristal. Soltura’s beer featured an oval palm tree with a diagonal red stripe across it, which it registered as a U.S. trademark. In 2023, La Tropical introduced Cerveza Tropi Cristal with beer cans designed with a red diagonal stripe and an oval palm tree logo on the back.
Soltura first sued La Tropical in California, but the case was dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction. More recently, the case was brought before the Florida federal court. Judge Darrin P. Gayles ruled largely in favour of La Tropical on Soltura’s motion to dismiss the case. He rejected Soltura’s efforts to dismiss La Tropical’s claims for non-infringement since Soltura had already sued over the trademark. He also found enough commonalities in the palm tree logos to allow the copyright claim to move forward.
However, not all of La Tropical’s claims succeeded. Judge Gayles dismissed its false advertising and unfair trade practices claims, as La Tropical failed to prove harm to its reputation from Soltura’s branding.
Authors: Ayesha Khanna and Carina Leung, 2024/2025 Articling Student-At-Law
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