E-Malt.com News article: 1298

For the second time this week, the Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar has claimed victory in court over beer giant Anheuser-Busch and this time in Spain, according to Associated Press. The Czech brewer said a high court in Madrid upheld the company's rights for the Budejovicky Budvar trade name in Spain. The court overturned earlier decisions by the Spanish patent office which, acting at the request of St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, twice rejected Budvar's attempts to register its trade name, the statement said. The companies have been involved in a worldwide trademark battle for nearly a century.

Earlier this week, the Czech brewery claimed another trademark victory in Taiwan where Anheuser-Busch had appealed the registration of the Budvar's Budejovicky Budvar trade name. Anheuser-Busch argued the name is too similar to its own flagship trade name Budweiser and may be confusing to beer drinkers in the Asian country. The two companies have battled over the name Budweiser since 1906, when the Czech brewery began exporting its product to the U.S. The companies are involved in more than 40 lawsuits.

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. They founded their brewery 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 been also exporting lager to the Unites States under the name Czechvar.



10 July, 2003