Brewer Loses Appeal Over Budweiser Beer Brand

Thu, 26 Mar 2009

American brewer Anheuser-Busch has lost its appeal to use the name Budweiser throughout Europe . A European Union court ruled in favour of Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar, producer of a number of Czech beers, just three months after a European Court denied Anheuser’s application for an EU trademark – a case in which Budvar also prevailed. The European Court of First Instance verified the Czech brewer’s claim that it registered the name in Austria, France and the former Czechoslovakia in 1958, and upheld a decision by the EU’s trademark agency that Budejovicky Budvar had already registered the name.

As a result of the decision, Anheuser have been denied an EU-wide trademark. Anheuser may still sell its beer under the Budweiser name in individual countries with which it has an agreement, though it may not infringe any registered trademark held by Budvar. Indeed, six years ago, Anheuser lost a case to stop Budvar selling beer in the UK under the Budweiser name.

This is just the latest in a series of disputes between the two brewers in a rivalry that has spanned recent decades. Anheuser-Busch, however, has now been renamed Anheuser-Busch-Inbev following a $52 billion takeover by Belgian-Brazilian brewer Inbev .
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