InBev says its recent court loss will not affect its global goals

LEUVEN, Belgium Beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev is back at square one in its battle over the ‘Bud’ trademark with Czech Republic-based Budejovicky Budvar, though it says its global goals will not change.

Europe’s Court of First Instance this week repealed the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market’s decision, which had ruled against Budvar.

“The decision by the Court of First Instance has no effect on Anheuser-Busch InBev’s already extensive ‘Bud’ rights throughout the European Union,” Ornigg said. “It is immaterial to the global Budweiser growth strategy.”

Budvar believes it should be allowed to exclusively own the Budweiser trademark in all 27 EU member states because of its origins in the town after which the beer is named. The OHIM ruled in favor of InBev because it said Budvar had not proven its designation in relation to the town. The Court of First Instance stated that Budvar had been granted ‘Bud’ trademark protections in Austria and France, OHIM was not entitled to question how they were classified and InBev could not claim the ‘Bud’ trademark in all 27 member states, according to Beveragedaily.com.

As of now, 23 member states recognize InBev’s ‘Budweiser’ or ‘Bud.’ In order for the brewer to acquire the rest, it will need to individually copyright the trademark, state by state. InBev is still determining whether or not it will appeal the decision.