Portugal: Anheuser-Busch loses the case on Budweiser brand name in Portugal
Europe's top human rights court rejected on Thursday a bid by U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch to take control of the 'Budweiser' brand name in Portugal from Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar, according to Reuters, January 11.
The case is one of several legal clashes between the two brewers over use of the name in various countries.
The U.S. firm's distinctive red, white and blue-labelled bottles are more famous but the Czech firm says 'Budweiser' comes from 'Budweis', the name its home town Ceske Budejovice went by for centuries.
In 2001 the Portuguese Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Anheuser-Busch, ruling that the Czech firm's right to use the name was protected by a bilateral agreement between Portugal and what was then Czechoslovakia that came into force in 1987.
The St Louis, Missouri-based brewer took its case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that because it had applied for registration of the 'Budweiser' trademark in Portugal before the bilateral agreement came into force; it had the right to protection of its brand. But the Strasbourg-based court said Anheuser-Busch's main complaint was about how national law had been applied.
"In that connection, it reiterated that its function was not to take the place of the national courts, but to ensure that their decisions were not flawed by arbitrariness or otherwise manifestly unreasonable," the court said in a statement. "The Court concluded that the Supreme Court's judgment did not constitute interference with the applicant company's right to the peaceful enjoyment of its possessions," it added.
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