In a what must be a painful decision, U.S. brewery Anheuser-Busch lost the right to use the brand name Budweiser in the European Union after a long legal battle with Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar finally came to an end.
Believe it or not, this article from Wikipedia does a great job of distilling the story of the highly sought after Budweiser name into a few paragraphs, and this story from Out-Law.com does a great job of describing the most recent legal actions surrounding the battle as well as the final decision. Unbeknownst to me, this battle has been going on in some form or another since the 1870s. This is a branding story I am not well versed on, but now that it’s on my radar, I’m finding it to be particularly interesting.
I’d love to hear some more opinions on this trademark dispute. What do you think? Take the poll below and share your opinion. Also, leave a comment and give us some details about why you feel the way you do. Know of more great resources to learn more about the history of the Budweiser brand name? Share them in the comments section below. I’d love to read more about it myself.
Image: Flickr
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
