Gov. Bush defends penning liquor letter
Bacardi donations to Florida GOP didn't influence policy, he claims
- Thomas B. Edsall, Washington Post
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/09/14/MN143103.DTL
Washington -- Two weeks after a Miami-based liquor manufacturer gave the Florida Republican Party $50,000, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wrote a letter to a political appointee of his brother, President Bush, asking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to "take quick, decisive action" favoring the company in a trademark dispute.
Five days after Bush's June 13 letter was sent, the company -- Bacardi- Martini USA -- gave the Florida GOP another $25,000.
The sequence of events has angered a Cuban-French joint venture that is fighting Bacardi over the brand name "Havana Club." Its lawyers filed a complaint charging that Jeb Bush's intervention amounted to an illegal "ex parte," or one-sided, attempt to politically influence a judicial proceeding before the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
The governor's letter was sent to former Rep. James Rogan, R-Glendale (Los Angeles County), whom the president appointed to head the Patent and Trademark Office.
The complaint said the alleged violations "appear particularly egregious given the content of the communications (calling for a disposition in Bacardi's favor), the identity of the parties to those communications (Gov. Bush's brother is the president of the United States, who appointed Director Rogan, a former Republican Congressman, to his current position), the extremely close temporal connection between Bacardi's $50,000 contribution and Governor Bush's extraordinary letter. . . ."
Elizabeth Hirst, Bush's spokeswoman, disputed the allegations.
"Gov. Bush wrote this letter in his official capacity," she said Friday. "He was working on behalf of a company that is based in Florida, which employs a significant number of people and generates revenue to our economy."
She said of the $50,000 contribution: "There was no quid pro quo. The governor and his staff have no knowledge of the timing of contributions."
Asked whether it was proper for the governor to write a political appointee of his brother's about a matter before a federal trial and appeal board, Hirst said, "It is proper for the governor to write to a federal official about a matter than involves the state of Florida and one of the companies that operates here."
The trademark dispute between Bacardi-Martini and Havana Club Holdings S.A. over the name "Havana Club" to describe certain rum products dates nearly a decade. The disagreement has bounced between the courts and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
The New York law firm representing Bacardi did not respond to inquiries Friday and referred the matter to Jorge Rodriguez-Marquez, Bacardi's vice president for communications.
He said: "We asked our governor if he could represent us in asking for a speedy process to avoid further inexcusable delays" in the trademark dispute.
Rodriguez-Marquez said Bacardi contributes to both the Florida Republican and Democratic parties. A check of the Florida secretary of state's Web site, where contributions are listed, showed contributions to the GOP but none to the Democratic Party for the period starting Jan. 1, 2001.
In the previous cycle, 1999-2000, Bacardi was listed as giving $82,500 to the Florida GOP and $5,000 to the Florida Democratic Party.
Rodriguez-Marquez said he met with the governor's staff to go over the issues to be covered, and "I was very happy to see the letter."
Brigid Quinn, spokeswoman for the Patent and Trademark Office, said the agency's policy is not to comment on matters pending before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
In his June 13 letter to Rogan, Bush said: "I am writing on behalf of Florida-based Bacardi-Martini, USA, Inc. to ask that the Patent and Trademark Office take quick, decisive action on a pending application" to cancel the trademark on "Havana Club" held by a joint venture between the Cuban enterprise Havana Club Holdings and Pernod-Ricard, a French firm.
Bush told Rogan that "the outdated registration belongs to a company owned by Fidel Castro called CubaExport and should be canceled immediately."
On July 3, Rogan wrote a letter to Gov. Bush that made no commitments and listed recent proceedings before the trial and appeal board. The letter said, "If you have any questions about this matter, please call me or Jon Dudas," Rogan's deputy director.
The final communication filed in the complaint is a July 16 letter from Gov.
Bush to Rogan saying, "Thank you for the information you passed along regarding the Bacardi case. Your candor on the issue is appreciated. Along with the continued assistance of Mr. Jon Dudas, your attention to this matter has been very helpful."
The letter did not specify the "continued assistance" of Dudas
Bacardi donations to Florida GOP didn't influence policy, he claims
- Thomas B. Edsall, Washington Post
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/09/14/MN143103.DTL
Washington -- Two weeks after a Miami-based liquor manufacturer gave the Florida Republican Party $50,000, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wrote a letter to a political appointee of his brother, President Bush, asking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to "take quick, decisive action" favoring the company in a trademark dispute.
Five days after Bush's June 13 letter was sent, the company -- Bacardi- Martini USA -- gave the Florida GOP another $25,000.
The sequence of events has angered a Cuban-French joint venture that is fighting Bacardi over the brand name "Havana Club." Its lawyers filed a complaint charging that Jeb Bush's intervention amounted to an illegal "ex parte," or one-sided, attempt to politically influence a judicial proceeding before the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
The governor's letter was sent to former Rep. James Rogan, R-Glendale (Los Angeles County), whom the president appointed to head the Patent and Trademark Office.
The complaint said the alleged violations "appear particularly egregious given the content of the communications (calling for a disposition in Bacardi's favor), the identity of the parties to those communications (Gov. Bush's brother is the president of the United States, who appointed Director Rogan, a former Republican Congressman, to his current position), the extremely close temporal connection between Bacardi's $50,000 contribution and Governor Bush's extraordinary letter. . . ."
Elizabeth Hirst, Bush's spokeswoman, disputed the allegations.
"Gov. Bush wrote this letter in his official capacity," she said Friday. "He was working on behalf of a company that is based in Florida, which employs a significant number of people and generates revenue to our economy."
She said of the $50,000 contribution: "There was no quid pro quo. The governor and his staff have no knowledge of the timing of contributions."
Asked whether it was proper for the governor to write a political appointee of his brother's about a matter before a federal trial and appeal board, Hirst said, "It is proper for the governor to write to a federal official about a matter than involves the state of Florida and one of the companies that operates here."
The trademark dispute between Bacardi-Martini and Havana Club Holdings S.A. over the name "Havana Club" to describe certain rum products dates nearly a decade. The disagreement has bounced between the courts and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
The New York law firm representing Bacardi did not respond to inquiries Friday and referred the matter to Jorge Rodriguez-Marquez, Bacardi's vice president for communications.
He said: "We asked our governor if he could represent us in asking for a speedy process to avoid further inexcusable delays" in the trademark dispute.
Rodriguez-Marquez said Bacardi contributes to both the Florida Republican and Democratic parties. A check of the Florida secretary of state's Web site, where contributions are listed, showed contributions to the GOP but none to the Democratic Party for the period starting Jan. 1, 2001.
In the previous cycle, 1999-2000, Bacardi was listed as giving $82,500 to the Florida GOP and $5,000 to the Florida Democratic Party.
Rodriguez-Marquez said he met with the governor's staff to go over the issues to be covered, and "I was very happy to see the letter."
Brigid Quinn, spokeswoman for the Patent and Trademark Office, said the agency's policy is not to comment on matters pending before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
In his June 13 letter to Rogan, Bush said: "I am writing on behalf of Florida-based Bacardi-Martini, USA, Inc. to ask that the Patent and Trademark Office take quick, decisive action on a pending application" to cancel the trademark on "Havana Club" held by a joint venture between the Cuban enterprise Havana Club Holdings and Pernod-Ricard, a French firm.
Bush told Rogan that "the outdated registration belongs to a company owned by Fidel Castro called CubaExport and should be canceled immediately."
On July 3, Rogan wrote a letter to Gov. Bush that made no commitments and listed recent proceedings before the trial and appeal board. The letter said, "If you have any questions about this matter, please call me or Jon Dudas," Rogan's deputy director.
The final communication filed in the complaint is a July 16 letter from Gov.
Bush to Rogan saying, "Thank you for the information you passed along regarding the Bacardi case. Your candor on the issue is appreciated. Along with the continued assistance of Mr. Jon Dudas, your attention to this matter has been very helpful."
The letter did not specify the "continued assistance" of Dudas