EU court backs Anheuser on Bud non-beer trademark
A European court upheld on Tuesday Anheuser-Busch's right to use Budweiser and Bud brand names on merchandise including T-shirts and barbecue sauce, rejecting a challenge by Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar.
The Czech firm had sought to prevent Anheuser-Busch from registering the brand names as trademarks for non-beer products in the 27-nation European Union, saying Budweiser comes from Budweis, the name its home town Ceske Budejovice went by for centuries.
"The court finds that the appellations of origin relied on by Budejovicky Budvar are protected ... only for beer and similar products," the Court of First Instance, the EU's second-highest court, said.
The case dates back to the period between 1996 and 1998, when Anheuser-Busch applied to register in the EU the names Budweiser and Bud.
Budvar said the court ruling would have no impact on its business. It has two months in which to appeal against the decision to the European Court of Justice -- Europe's highest court.
"Products in different categories are not Budejovicky Budvar's area of business," Budvar said.
"Today's decisions are not substantial from the point of view of Budejovicky Budvar's beer sales and do not threaten its current business activities in EU countries."
St Louis, Missouri-based Anheuser-Busch, the largest U.S. brewer, sells beer under the Budweiser and Bud Light brands, competing with the Budweiser Budvar brand of the Czech brewer. The Czech firm also sells a strong lager under the Bud Super Strong brand.
The two have been in numerous legal disputes over the names.
Anheuser-Bush's said the ruling will not affect its beer business in Europe, where it has the rights to the Budweiser and Bud brand names 23 of 27 EU countries, excluding nations such as the Czech Republic and Germany.
"Promotional items continue to play an important role in building the Budweiser and Bud brand names Anheuser-Busch first developed more than 130 years ago," said Tom Santel, president and chief executive officer, Anheuser-Busch International, Inc. in a statement.
"These decisions also are significant because they recognize Anheuser-Busch as the rightful owner of the Bud and Budweiser name and establishes trademark rights beyond the beer category," said Santel.
Successive Czech governments have shunned the idea of privatizing the brewer on concerns it would be bought by Anheuser-Busch and lose the trademark, or its position in export markets in favor of the U.S. firm.
Budvar had sales of 2.5 billion crowns ($452.5 million) last year. Anheuser-Busch controls about half of the U.S. beer market with its Bud Light the top-selling beer brand in the country. It sells around 30 percent of its beer volume in Europe.
In a separate case on alcohol brands on Tuesday, the Court of First Instance ruled in favor of Assembled Investments, an investment company, to register the trademark Waterford Stellenbosch for alcoholic drinks, in particular wine from South Africa.
The application had been turned down by the EU's trademark office because of the existence of Irish-based glassware company Waterford Wedgwood's "Waterford" label.
"It must be held that articles of glassware and wine are not similar goods. Consequently, there can be no likelihood of confusion between the conflicting mark," the court said in its ruling.
Wedgwood said it was considering whether to appeal this ruling to the European Court of Justice.
"We have initiated legal proceedings against Stellenbosch in Ireland, the U.S. and Europe. Despite the decision of the European Court of First Instance, we are confident that, ultimately, our rights over the Waterford trademark will be confirmed," a spokesman said.
(Published by Reuters, June 12, 2007)