E-Malt.com News article: Cambodia: Budvar has gained the rights to Budweiser name in Cambodia

Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar announced on April 20 it has gained the right to sell its beer under its original brand name of Budweiser in Cambodia. Thus the brewery has won the latest round of its global legal battle against U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch Ltd., over the use of the Budweiser brand name.

Budejovicky Budvar said Cambodia's Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Czech brewery earlier this month. The dispute over the rights to the Budweiser name is dating back to 2000. In the first round of legal action, a lower Cambodian court in 2000 ruled in favor of Anheuser-Busch, ordering the cancelation of already registered Budvar trademarks in the country. An appeals court in 2002, however, ruled in favor of the Czech company and the Supreme Court upheld its ruling.

"We welcome the court's ruling ... in favor of Budvar," said Jiri Bocek, the company's general director.

Currently, Budejovicky Budvar and Anheuser-Busch are involved in some 40 lawsuits worldwide. The two breweries have been battling over Budweiser and other trade names, such as Budvar, for a century.

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.

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.

Since 2001, Budvar has been exporting lager to the Unites States under the name Czechvar.

Shares of Anheuser-Busch fell 17 cents to close at $45.10 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, near the lower end of their 52-week range of $44.96 to $54.74.


24 April, 2005