Beer Co. (Anheuser-Busch) Claims Court Victory

AP ^ | September 20, 2002 | AP

[Tancred]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch said Friday it has won the latest round in a worldwide court battle to prevent a Czech brewing company from using the name of its flagship brand, Budweiser.

Anheuser-Busch president Stephen Burrows said in a statement Friday that New Zealand's Court of Appeal reversed a High Court decision and ordered Budejovicky Budvar to stop importing, advertising, or selling beer under the Budweiser name.

Burrows called the ruling "another significant victory" after it stopped Budvar from using the Budweiser name in Argentina, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Spain and most recently, Italy.

Anheuser-Busch, which brews Budweiser and holds the trademark in New Zealand for the beer, claimed the Czech brewery violated the Trademarks Act and the Fair Trading Act by using the word "Budweiser" on its beer labels.

The Czech beer, introduced to New Zealand in 1996 as Budejovicky Budvar, is also sold as Budweiser Budvar.

Anheuser-Busch asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the High Court decision, which said there was no evidence the Czech beer would be confused with the U.S. beer.

The court's decision does not affect the Czech company's ability to use the Budejovicky Budvar name, Burrows said.

Budejovicky Budvar is brewed in the small town of Ceske Budejovice, known in German as Budweis, the origin of the Budweiser name.

The Czech brewery claims historical right to use the name.

[thinktwice]

There's a moral story in this ...taking another's name for economic benefit.

Corporations routinely insist on "taking" ownership over patentable ideas from employees, while NOT putting the original-idea inventor's name on the patent.

[Arkinsaw]

McDonald's wanted some guy named McDonald in Scotland to stop using his name at one point I believe. PETA beat a guy out of a domain name he had registered for a parody site even though he got it first and legally and parody is protected speech.

The one with the most money usually wins.

[RS]

A while ago the Czech brewery started to export to the US under the "Budvar" name - Anheuser decided even that was too close and now it's distributed under the "Czechvar" label - Pretty good beer ! Checkout http://www.budvar.com

14-06-2002
Anheuser-Busch was not successful in its appeal proceedings at the Supreme Courts in South Korea and Taiwan

21-05-2002
Budìjovický Budvar is the only brewery permitted to use the Budweiser trademark in Germany

[jimtorr]

McDonald's wanted some guy named McDonald in Scotland to stop using his name

Are you kidding? That "some guy" was the Chief of Clan McDonald!

What the restaurant corp. was demanding was that he change the name of the tourist cafe at the ancestral home, at Finlaggan on the Isle of Skye, I believe.

McDonalds Corp. lost, of course. They finally dropped the suit after the Clan Chief threatened to open a rival chain of McDonalds Restaurants in the USA, serving Scottish dishes!