I think the best word to describe AB-InBev's legal attempts to stop Budvar using the name Budweiser is chutzpah. Front, nerve and brass neck too. Budweiser means "from Budweis", the German name for České Budějovice, the Bohemian city where beer has been brewed since the 13th century. Adolph Busch started brewing his Budweiser beer in St Louis in 1876.
It's not as if anyone is going to confuse the two, certainly not if they drink them.
Anheuser-Busch InBev have been doing this for decades all over the world; they've won some cases and lost some. The UK is, I believe, the only country where both companies can use the Busweiser name, which really annoys the Americans who are used to money buying everything.
ReplyDeleteWhen Czechoslovakia ceased to be communist and began privatising industries, A-B were confident they'd be able to buy the Czech Budweiser brewery. They even had names (Budvar, not Budweiser), label designs and a marketing campaign ready. CAMRA were party to taking some American Bud to Prague and calling a press conference with free beer (the Bud, of course). Czech journalists were so disgusted with it (it hadn't been on sale there previously) that any hope A-B had of getting the press on side were scuppered.