Czech Mark: AB InBev Loses Patience With Budvar Use of Budweiser

The attorneys at the massive AB InBev have been trying to get little Czech brewer Budějovický Budvar to stop using the Budweiser name, but nothing has worked yet and the King of Beers may be seeing its Czech rival in high court as the longrunning dispute continues.

The UK Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Budvar on July 3rd, when the trademark lawyers at Marks & Clark scored the victory for the smaller brewer, according to TheLawyer.com. As it stands now, both brewers are still allowed to use the name Budweiser. And that means, of course, that this legal fight likely isn’t over. 

The two companies are now gearing up for an even bigger courtroom battle. If the Court of Appeals had ruled for AB InBev, it would have seriously hurt the smaller Czech brewer, TheLawyer reports.

“This decision confirms what, in our opinion, is obvious following the favorable ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union in September last year,” said one lawyer for Budvar. “That as a result of the decades-long honest use of the mark Budweiser by both Budvar and Anheuser-Busch in the UK, both parties should be entitled to a trademark registration.”