Germany: Anheuser-Busch now faces a legal challenge from Bitburger Brauerei

USA’s largest beer maker, Anheuser-Busch Cos., which has fought a Czech competitor over the Budweiser and Bud names for decades, now faces a legal challenge from the German brewer, Bitburger Brauerei, Bloomberg posted on January 17.

Based in the German town of Bitburg, Bitburger Brauerei, wants the European Union's trademark office to annul the Anheuser Busch Bud and American Bud trademarks.

Anheuser Busch Bud “is difficult to pronounce, especially after drinking beer'' and so consumers tend to shorten it to “Bud,'' the brewer said in documents at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg on January 17. When ordering in noisy bars, the use of “Bud'' can lead to confusion over Bitburger's trademark “Bit,'' the brewer said.

Bitburger has about 5 % of the German beer market compared with market leader Inbev NV's 12 percent, said Marcel Hooijmaijers, an analyst at Kepler Equities in Amsterdam.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Anheuser-Busch said there's no risk of confusion, arguing that the German pronunciation of “Bit'' and ”Bud'' are completely different. In addition, most beer is bought at stores and consumed at home, away from noisy bars where consumers have to shout to order drinks, the company said. A ruling is expected this year.

20 January, 2006