US brewer Anheuser-Busch and Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar are involved in a long-running dispute over the ownership of the trademark “Budweiser” in various countries. Currently, the two companies are in court in Japan. (St. Louis Business Journal: A-B claims rights to Budweiser trademark in Japan).
Anheuser-Busch claimed Monday it has exclusive rights to the Budweiser trademark in Japan, despite statements made last week by rival Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar… Last week, Budejovicky Budvar said Japan’s highest court upheld Budvar’s rights to the trade name in that countr, and gave Budvar’s trading company in Japan the right to use the name Budweiser Budvar N.C.
AP: Budweiser trademark dispute: This Bud’s for who?
Budvar won the latest round in South Korea, where a court ruled last month that the company’s name and trademark doesn’t conflict with Anheuser-Busch or infringe on its rights. But elsewhere, the fight continue
Wikipedia: Budweiser “The original use of the term Budweiser was used to refer to beer from the city of Ceske Budejovice in Bohemia (the modern Czech Republic) since 1265. Derived from the German name for the town, Budweis, something from Budweis being Budweiser.”
Budvar: Trademark dispute: “At the beginning of the year 2000 the number of legal disputes over trademark rights grew to 40 and the number of patent office proceedings to 45.”
Here is a partial list of the countries where ownership of the trademark has been settled by court decision or agreement between the two brewers:
| Anheuser-Busch |
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Argentina Australia Brazil Canada Denmark Finland Hungary Italy New Zealand Nigeria Spain Sweden Tajikistan United States |
(via The Trademark Blog)
