The European Court of Justice has ruled that AB InBev (American Bud) do not have exclusive European rights to the Budweiser name, which supports an earlier ruling that Budejovicky Budvar (Czech Bud) should retain its exclusive use of the name in Germany.
Most other European countries, including the UK, allow both brands to use the name.
This ruling comes 14 years after Inbev’s initial application to apply a EU trademark to the name was blocked by the Czech brewer.Anheuser Busch, bought by InBev in 2008, began using the Budweiser name in 1875 while Budvar’s Budweiser roots go back to 1895.