#1 According to...
Since 1911 the gigantic
American producer Anheuser-Busch (AB) has
battled Budweiser Budvar over the trademark "Budweiser" in courts
of law and among public opinion. In 1990, they began to wage war with a
friendly face, seeking to engage Budvar in joint ventures and economic "partnership"
while they continued legal attempts to prevent the export of Budvar.
The latest legal dispute started on June 26 of this year [1997], when AB filed suit at the Municipal Court in Helsinki, attempting to ban the sale of Budweiser Budvar in Finland. Budvar applied for registration of the trademark "Budweiser Budvar," the name it has used in Finland since last year. The "Finnish League of Beer Associations" supported the position of Budweiser Budvar in the court, which refused the American position for a preliminary injunction. However, the battle over the distribution of "Budweiser Budvar" in Finland is just beginning.
War in Norway
The Czech producer legally registered its trademark in this
country in 1992 and has sold beer under the name of Budweiser Budvar, Budweiser
or Budvar. In 1994, AB failed in an attempt to push aside Budweiser Budvar
and export its own beer to Norway. However, in July this year an article
appeared in "DAGBLADETT," a Norwegian daily, stating that Budweiser
Budvar was pirating the famous reputation of AB and trying to prevent this
company from entering the Norwegian market. For this reason, AB company
will be forced to try to gain a position by legal means. Budweiser Budvar
is working with the Czech Embassy and the Ministry of Agriculture to solve
the legal dispute and to be more aggressive in its public relations.
Threats in Ireland
Last year AB attacked Budvar in Ireland through a third party,
Budvar's Irish importer. They sent the importer a letter, demanding financial
indemnification exceeding the total assets of his company. Unfortunately,
the Irish importer terminated the Budvar contract as a result of the threats.
Budvar is now pursuing other avenues of distribution in Ireland.
Infringement in Germany
AB is using another tactic in Germany, where Budweiser Budvar
has been sold for decades and is the third largest imported beer, just behind
Tuborg and Fax. Although the Americans claim they are not interested in
the European market, they started to sell their beer in Germany under the
name of "Anheuser Busch B." There is no problem with that, however
the name "Budweiser" appears prominently in AB's advertising and
promotional materials. This is illegal, as "Budweiser" is a registered
trademark of Budejovice Budvar in Germany. AB's use of the name Budweiser
in the face of Budvar's German trademark rights is a textbook example of
piracy, in this case backed by the clout of the world's largest brewery.
Budvar is fighting back, taking legal measures to defend its trademark.
Long before Columbus
There are many such examples of harassment by AB, but Budweiser
Budvar continues to defend its trademark, its position on world markets
and the tradition of brewing in Ceske Budejovice. According to the legal
documents it presents, AB would try to persuade the world (and perhaps themselves
as well) that Budweiser is a fantasy trademark which does not have its roots
in Budejovice but is exclusively connected with America. The truth, of course,
lies somewhere else. Brewing beer had long been a tradition in Ceske Budejovice
when Columbus started his pioneer journey, which can be proven beyond doubt.
It seems as though the AB company would be very happy if the town Ceske
Budejovice, or "Budweis" in German, along with its 700-year history
of brewing beer would simply disappear from the world map.
Illusions and Reality
On the other hand, the Americans are trying to buy their way
into Budvar, as previously mentioned. After several years of observing their
endeavours, we can compare AB's strategic concept of Budvar, as submitted
to our Ministry of Agriculture on June 16, 1992, with the actual results
achieved by Budvar as an independent company.
AB guaranteed "advantageous" loans from abroad at 12 per cent
interest. However, Budvar found access to foreign financial resources with
interest rates ranging from 5 per cent to 7 per cent.
Even without partners and foreign capital, Budvar is one of the most prosperous
companies, not only in Southern Bohemia but nationwide. Its average gross
salary of nearly 13.000 Kc per month is far above the median level in the
food industry and is more reminiscent of the banking sector.
AB Does Not Give Up
Anheuser Busch, the world's number one brewery (in terms of
volume produced), has not given up its attempts to buy into Budweiser Budvar,
despite repeated rejection. At the beginning of this year, they submitted
an updated set of proposals to the Ministry of Agriculture containing four
basic groups of issues. These proposals have been analyzed by a group of
experts and were compared with the counterproposals of the Czech government.
Negotiations concerning the analysis have been postponed until after the
upcoming elections.
Roman Ruzicka
Ekonom, "Budweiser Budvar Faces Accusations by Anheuser-Busch", 16.4.1997
#2 According to...
"In 1876, Adolphus collaborated with his close friend, Carl Conrad, to create a new beer brand -Budweiser- which now outsells all other brands in the world."
"In 1860, Eberhard Anheuser (1805-1880), a successful St. Louis businessman, first financed a loan for a struggling local brewery and later bought up the interests of minority creditors. Four years later, his son-in-law-Adolphus Busch-joined the company as a salesman. Adolphus eventually became a partner and then president of the company. As the driving force that took a struggling local brewery and transformed it into an industry giant, Adolphus is considered the founder of the company.
(...)
In 1876, Adolphus collaborated with his close friend, Carl Conrad, to create a new beer brand -Budweiser- which now outsells all other brands in the world. Twenty years later, Adolphus developed another beer brand-Michelob-that soon became the pre-eminent superpremium U.S. beer, a position it retains to this day.
(...)
Trademarks...
The A & Eagle design is the widely recognized symbol of Anheuser-Busch Companies and Anheuser-Busch, Inc. First used on the company's beer products in 1872, the trademark was registered with the U.S. Patent Office in 1877. According to the company's statement at that time, the essential elements of the design were "...the capital A and the figure of an eagle standing on the American shield."
The original eagle had its wings folded back into the "A." Around the turn of the century, the eagle's wings spread outside the "A" in an uplifted, flying motion. In 1939, the Union shield was replaced with a horizontal striped shield.
No record remains of the symbol's original designer or its exact meaning. The "A" stood for Eberhard Anheuser, but a question remains about the eagle. Some have said that it represented the unlimited vision of Adolphus Busch; others, that it was included as a mark of respect for America, the adopted country of the brewery's founders. Whatever the original meaning, the A & Eagle has come to symbolize the company's century-old heritage of pride and quality.
Some of the company's current major trademarks include Anheuser-Busch, Anheuser, the A & Eagle design, Bud, Budweiser, Budweiser Label Design, Budweiser Bow Tie design, Bud Light, Bud Ice, King of Beers, Michelob, Michelob Light, Michelob Classic Dark, Michelob Dry, Busch, Busch Light, Natural Light, King Cobra, O'Doul's, Busch Gardens, Adventure Island, Kingsmill, SeaWorld, Shamu and Know When To Say When."
Anheuser-Busch Co., St Louis, Miss. USA
(From Anheuser-busch.com)
Battle of the 'Buds' reaches Hong-Kong.
News From Realbeer.co.nz
Anheuser-Busch takes Budvar to court in trademark battle
JULY 12, 1999 - In the latest round of the ongoing battle between Budweiser and Budvar, American-based Anheuser Busch has taken Czech-owned Budejovicky Budvar to court in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Sunday Morning Post reported that A-B said in court papers that Budejovicky Budvar beer had infringed on the Budweiser trademark since Budejovicky is the Czech word for Budweiser.
The U.S. brewer is seeking a court order to have the Czech company's products taken off the shelves in Hong Kong, the report said. Anheuser-Busch has launched similar lawsuits in Europe and the United States.
The Czechs say they had claims to the name long before the Americans began brewing beer. "Budweiser," named after a Czech village called Ceske Budejovice, was made as far back as the Middle Ages, they said. The term Budweiser describes beer from that region, the same way Burgundy and Champagne describe wine from those wine-making regions of France, they said.
The German immigrants who founded Anheuser-Busch in 1876 used the Budweiser name for their beer because it was well-known in their homeland. In Czechoslovakia, the state-owned Budvar brewery was founded in 1895.
Last month, federal regulators in the United States began investigating whether the Czech brewer's use of the "Budweiser Budvar" label violates U.S. trademark law.
