Budvar: Delicious and Funny

České Budějovice, who makes Budvar Budweiser, the original Budweiser beer from the Czech Republic, has had to fight tooth and nail in virtually every country throughout the world to assert its rights to the name Budweiser. Here in the U.S., of course, they lost that fight, which is why in this country the beer was re-christened Czechvar. They’ve won in quite a few countries, but lost in some more, as well. Throughout the world, the beer is known as Budweiser, Budvar, Budweiser Budvar, Bud, Budějovický Budvar, and Czechvar. The beer is brewed at the Budějovický Budvar brewery, which began in the 13th Century. The brewery is located in the city of České Budějovice, formerly also known as Budiwoyz and Budweis. Admittedly, this is all very complicated and confusing, so perhaps this historical summary from the brewery website may help:

The term Budweiser is derived from the town of Budějovice, known as Budweis or Budějovice since the 14th century – 200 years before Christopher Columbus discovered America. Budweis – the official name of the town – was not “Czechified” as Česke Budějovice until 1918 (with the exception of 1939-1945, i.e. the Second World War and the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, when the name of the town reverted briefly to its German form. In some languages Budweis is still the preferred name. České Budějovice has been renowned for brewing from time immemorial (see the chapter entitled History of Beer in České Budějovice). To differentiate the town’s beer from the output of breweries in other areas, the beer was called the Budweiser Bier (i.e. “Beer from Budějovice”). Logically, the company Český akciový pivovar (Böhmisches Action-Bräuhaus in Budweis in German) decided to brand its beer by its place of origin, as it followed up on the tradition of brewing Budějovice beer in České Budějovice. The beer from Budějovice was so well known that Budweiser Bier became a synonym of quality. Ever since it started operations, the brewery used various names using the Budweiser word on its products, and it gradually started registering the brands as trademarks. After the signature of the Lisbon International Treaty (1958), it acquired the national and international registration of the terms Budějovice Beer (Budweiser Bier) and Budějovický Budvar (Budweiser Budvar) in the states who were parties to the Lisbon Treaty.

And of course, their legal trouble are legendary. Again, from the brewery website:

The history of disputes over Budějovický Budvar’s trademarks dates back to the beginning of the last century. For decades, one of the major US breweries had tried to buy the rights to its trademarks from Budějovický Budvar, initially only for the territory of the US. Just before the Second World War, this brewery in fact was successful in its attempts. This US brewery has continued its efforts to obtain Budějovický Budvar’s trademarks until today.

Budějovický Budvar is therefore currently defending its historical rights to its trademarks against Anheuser-Busch, which is attacking Budějovický Budvar through over 40 lawsuits and more than 40 administrative proceedings before patent authorities all over the world. A large majority of the courts’ decisions uphold Budějovický Budvar’s rights to its trademarks. Budějovický Budvar has recently won trademark disputes e.g. in the UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Greece, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and New Zealand.