February 2003
BEER; The hangover of the great Czech/ American divide.
An ongoing dispute between the makers of Czech beer Budvar and the US Budweiser has reached another milestone decision.
Following success in their attempts to prevent the Czechs using the Budweiser name in Finland, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand, Brazil, Denmark and Australia, US trade mark owner Anheuser-Busch has now ploughed a great deal of money into trying to prevent a small Czech brewery from using the name "Bud". Unfortunately for them the House of Lords tended to agree with Budejovicky Budvar, a brewery owned by the state, in that they felt the smaller company should be permitted to use the name.
The Budvar brewery is located in the city of Ceske Budejovice which translates into German as Budweis. The city claims to have been brewing Budweiser for 700 years however the modern day Budvar brewery did not appear until 1895, 19 years after the US rival commenced trade. This time difference has proved to be instrumental in the lengthy debate.
BRIFFA Comment:
Providing evidence of prior use of your mark can be very useful when and if your trade mark is opposed. Dated material such as promotional brochures, invoices to and from your company and dated letterheads can all be used for this purpose. If you can enhance this information with evidence of goodwill and reputation in your use of the mark your case will be all the more stronger for fending off would-be opponents.