New blow to Anheuser-Busch in Budweiser name battle
Anheuser-Busch InBev has suffered a new blow in the long-running legal battle over the Budweiser name after its latest defeat in the European courts.
Judges in Luxembourg yesterday backed an earlier ruling that Anheuser could not register the Budweiser tag as a European trademark.
Ownership of the iconic name is shared with Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar, which already holds the right to use the Budweiser tag as a trademark across Europe.
Judges found that the Czech company had advertised its Budweiser beer in Germany and Austria several years before the US brewing giant filed for an EU trademark.
Anheuser, which last year sealed a landmark $52bn merger with rival drinks giant InBev, has previously won battles to stop Budvar using the Budweiser tag in Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, as well as a number of other European counties. However, its efforts to prevent Budvar using the name in the UK were unsuccessful.
Popsop.com
30 March 2009
Tags: alcohol drinks, beer, Budweiser
