EU Court Rejects AB InBev Bid To Protect Budweiser

CONSTANT BRAND

BRUSSELS (AP) — Anheuser-Busch InBev lost a battle for the "Budweiser" name after an EU court rejected Wednesday its claim to register the word as an exclusive Europe-wide trademark.

U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch — now renamed Anheuser-Busch-InBev after a $52 billion takeover by Belgium's InBev — and smaller Czech rival Budejovicky Budvar NP haggled for years over the name, once also the name of a Czech town famous for its fine beers.

The European Court of First Instance upheld a 2007 decision, saying the right to use the famous "Budweiser" name has already been legally claimed by Anheuser-Busch's rival Czech brewer in several EU countries.

Budvar registered the name as a trademark in 1991 with the EU trademark agency, five years before Anheuser-Busch.

The EU court said the 2007 decision by the EU's trademark agency, which oversees both national and EU-wide trademarks was justified. The agency upheld Budvar's trademark in Austria and Germany and rejected Anheuser-Busch's appeal.

The court said the U.S. brewer's trademark application was "identical to the earlier international word mark 'Budweiser' protected" in the two countries.