Budweiser is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States.
Budweiser may also refer to an unrelated pale lager beer, originating in České Budějovice, Czech Republic (in German, Budweis) produced by the Budějovický Budvar brewery. There have been multiple trademark disputes between the two companies. Usually, either Anheuser-Busch or Budějovický Budvar are granted the exclusive use of the Budweiser name in a given market. Anheuser-Busch commonly uses the Bud brand for its beer when Budweiser is not available. The AB lager is available in over 80 countries, though not under the Budweiser name in places where Anheuser-Busch does not own the trademark. AB Budweiser is a filtered beer, available on draft and in bottles and cans, made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt.
“Budweiser History
Dispute over right to use the name
Anheuser-Busch cites prior registration of the trademark in the United States and battles for the right to use it worldwide in many legal disputes against the Europe-based companies in several countries. The Europeans wish to maintain or regain their right to market their beer under their traditional trademark. Bürgerbräu has marketed its beer asBudweiser Bier since 1876, while Budvar has marketed its product this way since 1895. The two companies in Budweis point out that Budweiser is not a generic name, but refers to a beer actually made in the city.
| Website | budweiser.com |
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The existence of several beers with similar names has caused problems in some markets. In 1907, American and Bohemian brewers made an agreement that Anheuser-Busch could market its beer as Budweiser only in North America, while the Bohemian brewers had the rights to the European markets. Anheuser-Busch markets its product as “Bud” (in France and elsewhere) and “Anheuser-Busch B” (in Germany, Austria and Switzerland), where the beer brewed in the original city retains the rights to the name. The United Kingdom and Ireland are some of the few places where both Anheuser-Busch and Budvar beer are sold under the name “Budweiser”.
In 2007 Anheuser-Busch signed a deal with Budějovický Budvar, the maker of the Czech Budweiser, to import Budvar Budweiser into the United States and sell it under the name Czechvar. The partnership with AB InBev was terminated in January 2012, and in July of that year, United States Beverage began responsibility for the sales and marketing of Czechvar in the United States.
In 2009 the European Court of First Instance upheld a ruling that refuses AB InBev, owners of the American Budweiser brand, permission to register the Budweiser brand as a community trademark. After the ruling, AB InBev decided to keep the Budweiser or Bud name in 23 of 27 European countries. In Germany, Budvar has exclusive control over the Budweiser brand name since May 2009. In the U.K., courts have ruled that neither company has exclusive rights to the name Budweiser. According to the verdict of Court of Justice of the European Union in July 2010, Budweiser Budvar has exclusive control over the Budweiser brand name in the whole European Union.
According to the British Budweiser Budvar website, “Currently [in 2012] there are about 40 trademark dispute cases pending in different jurisdictions and some 70 procedural issues up for consideration around the world”.
Until January 2013, the Czech Budweiser Budvar won 89 of the 124 dealt cases with the American Budweiser (eight ended in a draw or conciliation).”
*Information from Forbes.com and Wikipedia.org
**Video published on YouTube by “phoenixnewtimes“
