Beer Barons Take Bud Battle To The Brink

The world’s biggest brewer says it is taking the 86-year-old battle over the Budweiser and Bud trade names to Switzerland’s top court.

Anheuser-Busch Cos., based in St. Louis, said it would appeal a Swiss trade tribunal’s decision to ban U.S.-brewed “Bud” beer from the country.

The tribunal’s chief, Juerg Naegeli, said this week that beer should not be sold as “Bud” in Switzerland because of a risk of confusion with the name “Budweiser,” claimed by the state-owned Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar. It was the first time a court has barred use of the “Bud” name even though the dispute has been aired in up to 20 European nations.

The two brewers have been claiming rights to the Budweiser name since 1911.

Last month, the Czech government refused to allow Anheuser-Busch to use the “Bud” trademark in disputed markets in exchange for an agreement to buy Czech hops for the next 10 years.

Budvar opposed the deal on the basis that giving any ground to the U.S. brewer over the trademark would start an irreversible process.