A quick update today regarding a recent (September 2025) court ruling regarding Jamaica’s rum geographical indication process. To bring you up to speed quickly, in late 2024, JIPO (Jamaica’s Intellectual Property Office) updated the original 2016 GI on several fronts. Here’s an overview of the 2024 changes:
The key point of contention in what follows is the revised GI wording, which makes it clear that aging must occur in Jamaica. Jamaica’s Spirits Pool and J. Wray & Nephew, the Spirit Pool’s largest shareholder, advocated for this clarification.
National Rum of Jamaica, aka NRJ, opposed this modification, citing that Jamaican rum has a long history of overseas aging and that NRJ continues to sell a substantial amount of bulk rum to clients which age the rum overseas. (As a historical aside, much of the Jamaican rum that aged overseas was in the UK, e.g., “London Dock Rum.”)
After JIPO’s 2024 GI revision, NRJ appealed to the commercial division of Jamaica’s Supreme Court. The core of NRJ’s appeal is that the revised GI requirement substantially hinders the company’s ability to sell bulk rum to certain clients, thus creating financial harm for the company.
In this appeal, NRJ is the claimant. The four defendants are:
Registrar Of Industrial Property
Shantal English (JIPO Hearing Officer)
Spirits Pool Association Limited
J. Wray & Nephew Limited
What’s New
On September 19th, 2025, the judge overseeing the appeal issued a ruling. Here’s my summary of the lengthy and legalese-laden ruling found on Jamaica’s Supreme Court website:
An interim declaration rendering JIPO’s 2024 GI changes null and void, pending a full hearing of all points under contention.
Until the hearing is completed, Jamaica’s Spirits Pool must not accept or process any applications for Jamaica Rum GI certification under the revised requirements of the 2024 GI updates. [I’m not a lawyer, but this is my understanding of the ruling’s intent.]
Likewise, until the hearing is completed, the Defendants are prohibited from taking any action to implement or enforce the 2024 GI revisions, including informing the public, the European Commission, EU countries, or any other government or international body that the 2024 GI revisions are valid or in effect.
As an aside for those not well versed in Jamaica’s rum industry, while this is technically a dispute between Jamaican entities, there is an international dimension to the proceedings. J. Wray & Nephew is owned by the Italian company, Gruppo Campari. National Rums of Jamaica has three owners, each with a one-third stake:
Jamaica’s government, by way of the Sugar Company of Jamaica
Guyana’s Demerara Distillers Ltd.
France’s Maison Ferrand, by way of the West Indies Rum Distillery
Summary
The key takeaway is that an appeals court judge has put JIPO’s 2024 GI revisions on hold, pending further hearings before the court. While this ruling seems to side with NRJ’s claims, it is only a temporary pause. The key points of contention between the parties remain and will be addressed by the Commercial Court, rather than JIPO. [Again, I’m not a lawyer, but this is my understanding of the ruling.]
