Mimi Whitefield, The Miami Herald

A two-decades-old battle over who has the right to use the Havana Club trademark in the United States played out quietly at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week with the decision that the rightful owner is a Cuban government company.

The fight pitted Bacardi against Cubaexport, the Cuban partner of French spirits maker Pernod Ricard in the worldwide distribution of Cuba’s most iconic rum — Havana Club.

Because of the embargo, Cuban-made rum isn’t even able to be sold in the United States. But with the thaw between the United States and Cuba, rum makers are looking ahead to the day when Cuba rum doesn’t just arrive in the suitcases of visitors to the island but is sold freely in the U.S. market...