Trademarks

• Author: International Law Group

In 1875, Anheuser-Busch, Inc.(AB), an American brewer of beer, took on the trade name of "Budweiser." It chose this name apparently out of admiration for the brewing methods used for centuries in the Bohemian town of Budweis, as it was known under the Austro- Hungarian empire.

The town is now in the Czech Republic and goes by its Czech name of Ceske Budejovice. An established brewing company in that town named Budejovicky Budvar N.P. (BB) also claims the right to the Budweiser name and other related marks. Litigation in the English courts has brought the matter to the English Court of Appeal for the third time.

In 1919, BB and another brewery in Budweis objected to AB's registration of the mark on grounds that the mark signified a geographical origin. Neither their settlement agreement or another one in 1939 specified whether either AB or BB was entitled to use BUDWEISER as a U.K. trade mark. Between 1920 and 1960, BB concentrated its labeling on the trade name, BUDVAR, or the brew (var) from BUDweis. In 1960, however, BB registered BUDWEISER as an international European mark. From then on it used both Budweiser and Budvar on its labels, sometimes emphasizing the one, sometimes the other.

BB registered "Budweiser Bier" and "Budweis Beer" as appellations d'origine with the International Bureau for the protection of intellectual property. The company began commercially delivering beer to Great Britain with labels that gave prominence to "Budweiser." It obtained its designation "Budweiser Budvar" in 1967. In 1971, BB registered the mark BUDWEISER BUDVAR disclaiming any exclusivity in the use of the word BUDWEISER. By midsummer of 1979, BB had sold more than 1,000,000 bottles in the U.K. Between 1945 and 1973, AB sold its beer only in the U.S. Embassy and in PX stores selling to U.S. service personnel stationed in the U.K. Between 1962 and 1973, AB sold from 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 cans of its beer to American military. A substantial number of British citizens also learned about AB's beer from visits to the U.S. and from ads in American magazines circulating in Britain.

In the first round of litigation, the English Court of Appeal ruled that AB's "passing off" action lacked merit. Hence, both companies were entitled to use the name BUDWEISER in the U.K.

When BB applied in 1979 to register BUD as a trade mark, AB contested it in the second round. The courts, however, rebuffed AB's objection and allowed for concurrent use of BUD as a natural...