Austria: An Austrian court has ruled in Anheuser-Busch's favor

Anheuser-Busch Cos., the largest US brewer, announced that an Austrian court has ruled in its favor, blocking the attempts of Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar to protect "Bud" as a geographical indication.

According to the conclusion of the court in Salzburg ‘the term "Bud" is not a reference to a geographical place in the Czech Republic and therefore cannot be protected in Austria by a bilateral treaty between Austria and the Czech Republic’.

Anheuser-Busch said: “This decision is consistent with other European courts that have also ruled "Bud" is not a geographical place in the Czech Republic. It is a significant victory for Anheuser-Busch in the long-running trademark dispute with the Czech brewer and follows a similar trial court decision in Vienna last December.”

"This is another noteworthy decision in favor of Anheuser-Busch and one that could continue setting a strong precedent for other cases throughout Europe," said Steve Burrows, chief executive officer and president, Anheuser-Busch International, Inc.

"By rejecting Budejovicky Budvar's attempts to protect 'Bud' as a geographical name, the trial court in Salzburg has paved the way for Anheuser-Busch's unrestricted use of 'Bud' in Austria." The court also concluded that "Bud" was not confusingly similar to Budejovicky Budvar's "Budweiser Budvar," "Budweiser Budbrau" or "Budweiser" trademarks.

The decision by the Austrian court follows closely on the heels of a ruling last month when a World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel concluded that prior trademarks generally supercede later geographic indications. That decision thereby halted Budejovicky Budvar's efforts to rely on the registration of Budejovicky Pivo to justify its use of "Budweiser" throughout the European Union. Anheuser-Busch has national registrations for "Budweiser" or "Bud" in 20 of 25 European Union countries and sells 31 percent of its foreign beer volume in the European region.

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