Reuters is reporting that the EU equivalent of Europe’s supreme court ruled today that Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) “may not register ‘Budweiser’ as a trademark in the bloc, ending a 14-year legal battle over the name with a Czech brewer.” The battle over the naming rights from the town in the Czech Republic has been raging for more than a hundred years and may now finally be over. ABI’s response, predictable from a multi-national company used to getting its own way, “said the ruling would have no effect on its business,” and continued to refer to the trademark as one they “continue to believe [is] rightfully [theirs].”
Good. The product that they have to call “Czechvar” here is a far superior product.
If AB/InBev spent even a fraction of the amount they spend on lawyers and gimmicky advertising on actually making a good product, they’d be far better off. But I guess it’s just easier to sic lawyers on other companies in an attempt to put them out of business.
Nice to see them lose this one.
Having been to the fine Budweiser Budvar brewery in Czecho, and having sold their Czechvar labelled product in theUSA, I remain amused at AB’s position of contesting the trademarks.
Only in situations where the consumer verbally orders by saying just “Budweiser” – typically here in the US – does the potential for confusion arise. And it will be assumed the American Version is the one being called for 99.99% of the time, because anyone wishing the Budvar version will automatically add that suffix, so as to not get the “wrong” beer.
Now that the AB network of distributors is handling both products here, the opportunity to grow both is being squandered by In-Bev.
There of course is the 3rd Budweiser, Budweiser Burgerbrau, but then again, a suffix solves the issue.
Budvar was known as “The Beer of Kings” before AB’s version was “The King of Beers.”
Would that US courts have the same cojones as their EU counterparts regarding trademarking & infringement thereupon! Mickey D’s is the worst offender, having sic-ed their lawyers on innumerable Mc(anything) small businesses.
May the future see more of these megalomaniacal businesses having some sense slapped into them on such issues! I wish that Yoko Ono had blasted Chase for desecrating John Lennon’s memory when they used “Instant Karma” in the TV ad that ran incessantly after they bought out WaMu. But she probably found the royalty payoff too big to resist 🙁