EU court rules Anheuser-Busch cannot register Budweiser

While the ruling means that AB-InBev cannot get a blanket trademark for the 27-nation European Union as a whole, the brewer can have trademarks in individual EU markets. It was already settled in the past that AB-InBev can keep the Budweiser or Bud name in 23 of the 27 European countries.

The UK is one of the few places where both Anheuser-Busch and Budvar beer are sold under the name “Budweiser”. In the U.S., the original beer from Budweis is sold under the name “Czechvar”.

Nevertheless, in the Czech Republic people interviewed in the streets cheered the ruling. Having resigned themselves to the fact that all their prestigious Czech beer brands are now foreign-owned and have been streamlined to please international palates (i.e. to taste like what the Czech derogatorily call “Euro beers”), they seemed pleased that at least the sate-owned Budejovicky Budvar carries on the Czech brewing heritage.