E-Malt.com News article: 3664

Finland: The latest round of the global legal battle between Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar and St. Louis beer giant Anheuser-Busch Ltd. remained unresolved on November 16 after the European Union's high court passed the trademark case back to judges in Finland.

The European Court of Justice batted questions on November 16 about whether the name "Budweiser" could be used by two competing brewers back to Finland's national court. The ruling by the European Union's highest court is the latest round in top U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch's century-long dispute with state-owned Czech rival Budejovicky Budvar over the rights to the "Budweiser" and "Bud" brands.

In this case, which was referred to the ECJ from Finland's Supreme Court, Anheuser-Busch said customers could confuse its own "Budweiser" trade mark with Budvar's use of the name, derived from its place of origin. Budvar countered that its trade name was registered and protected under international law.

But the court said in a statement: "It is for the national court to examine whether the consumers targeted are likely to interpret the sign, as it is used by Budvar, as designating the undertaking from which the goods originate and, thus, as serving to distinguish the goods in question."

If Budvar was using Budweiser as a trade mark or badge of origin, Anheuser could claim the full protection of European law, the court said. But if it was used as a "trade or company name," Finnish courts needed to decide what protection Anheuser could claim. Using a trade name that was identical or similar to a trade mark could infringe the trade mark owner's rights, the court said, but might be permitted if it was done in good faith.

The court said Finnish judges would also need to rule whether Budvar's trade name was protected in Finland. Budvar registered its company name, both the Czech and English version, in 1967 and argues that under an international treaty on intellectual property, a registered name is protected in all countries that sign up to the treaty. The Czech brewer also registered Budvar and Budweiser Budvar as trade marks in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s. But it was struck off the Finnish commercial register in 1984 for lack of use. Anheuser-Busch then registered the "Budweiser" trade mark in Finland in the mid-1980s.

Budejovicky Budvar was founded in 1895 in Ceske Budejovice - called Budweis by the German-speaking people that populated the area at the time. Beer has been brewed there since 1265. But St. Louis-based Anheuser says the Czech brewer only began using the Budweiser name in 1895, 19 years after it began brewing its own Bud. The firms have fought lawsuits and patent disputes around the world, and the legal uncertainty has held back Czech plans to privatize Budejovicky Budvar.

The founders of Anheuser-Busch used the name Budweiser for their product because it was well-known in their German homeland. The St. Louis brewery got its start in 1852. It began producing Budweiser, America's first national beer brand, in 1876.

In the markets where the Czech brewer is barred from using the German version name of its premium lager, it has sought to sell it under its Czech name Budvar.

Since 2001, Budvar has exported to the United States under the name Czechvar.

The two companies are involved in more than 40 lawsuits fighting over the use of the name, a battle that started in 1906 when Budvar first exported beer to the United States. Among recent legal rulings, the Czechs have claimed success in South Korea, Japan, Spain and Lithuania, while Anheuser-Busch cried victory in Nigerian and Hungarian courts.



17 November, 2004