The EU General Court Rules in the “BUD” Trademark Dispute

On January 22, 2013, the General Court of the European Union dismissed challenges brought by the Czech brewery Budějovický Budvar against the registration of several Community trade marks incorporating the word “BUD” by Anheuser-Busch. Budvar relied on earlier rights in the designation Bud protected in Austria and France, but the court found that the evidence did not demonstrate use of the sign in the course of trade of more than merely local significance, as required by European trademark law. The judgment allowed Anheuser-Busch’s applications for the BUD marks to proceed, but it did not declare that the company universally owned the word Bud throughout Europe. Nor did it settle the broader, country-by-country conflict over the names Budweiser and Budweiser Budvar. The ruling instead resolved a specific group of European Union trademark opposition proceedings within a dispute shaped by different trademarks, geographical designations, and national rights.