AB InBev wins ‘Bud’ rights across EU
The long-running trademark dispute between the world's biggest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev and Budejovicky Budvar has come to a successful conclusion for the US brewery, across the EU at least, with the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, the EU trademark authority, granting AB InBev the formal rights to term its Budweiser beer 'Bud'.
Print8 July 2013
The decision follows an earlier rejection of Budvar’s appeal against giving AB InBev the right to use the term ‘Bud’ in four European countries at the EU General Court in Luxembourg.
This trademark dispute has continued between the two parties around the world on and off for more than a century
“While we have national rights for Bud and Budweiser in many European Union member states, it fills in the remaining gaps that we had,” commented AB InBev’s Global Legal Director Frank Hellwig.
Budweiser global volumes were up 3.1% in 2011 and 6% in 2012. This growing trend continued so far in 2013 with global Budweiser volumes growing by 8.4% in the first quarter, driven by good performances in China, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
In the most recent Brand Z report of the top 100 global brands, Budweiser was identified as the top global beer brand and moved up 14 spots on the top 100 list from its 2012 position, increasing in value by 28%.
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