China: Lawsuit says Arkansas company selling counterfeit Budweiser in China

The maker of Budweiser beer says an Arkansas-registered company is illegally marketing beer in China, using the American brewer's trademarks, The Associated Press reported May 10.

Anheuser-Busch sued USA Bai Wei Group in Pulaski County Circuit Court, seeking an injunction to revoke Bai Wei's corporate charter and require a name change.

The lawsuit also seeks profits Bai Wei made from the alleged trademark infringement and counterfeiting, plus damages and attorneys fees.

Bai Wei (pronounced By Way) is how the Chinese language trademark for Budweiser is pronounced in English, according to the St. Louis-based brewer's complaint, filed Friday.

Bai Wei is a registered Anheuser-Busch mark in markets including China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. Company officials said Wednesday that the name has been trademarked in China since at least 1995, the year Budweiser entered that market.

The Budweiser brand is marketed in China as super-premium beer and millions of barrels of the beer are brewed there, the lawsuit says. Anheuser-Busch employs about 15,000 full-time workers in China.

Anheuser-Busch says USA Bai Wei has been marketing beer in cans featuring the Bai Wei name and other Budweiser-derived designs in Luoyang, in the Henan province.

USA Bai Wei in early February applied to register as an Arkansas corporation. The Arkansas Secretary of State's office said a Chinese address is listed for a company director in documents filed with the office.

In Arkansas, the registered agent for USA Bai Wei is Little Rock-based Quest Research Inc., which provides corporate filing services.

Danny Clements, a Quest spokesman, said he knew nothing about USA Bai Wei except that Quest contracted with Worldwide Incorporators Ltd., an incorporation service company in Wilmington, Del., to be USA Bai Wei's filing agent in Arkansas.

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