State-owned Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar, which has been fighting a long legal battle with U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch over the Budweiser brand, said Thursday it has won the latest round in Bulgaria.
Budvar said a city court in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, has rejected a legal challenge by Anheuser-Busch that wanted it to cancel the right of Budvar to use “Bud” as a protected geographic indication of origin.
As a result, Budvar said, Anheuser-Busch withdrew its appeal of a court ruling that ordered the cancellation of two registered trademarks held by Anheuser-Busch, “Bud” and “American Bud.”
The world’s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev, which was created in 2008 when Belgium’s InBev bought Anheuser-Busch, declined to comment Thursday.
Budvar says the legal battle in Bulgaria is not over yet because it is still seeking the cancellation of other Anheuser-Busch’s trademarks there, such as “Anheuser-Busch Bud.”
Budvar said it exported 120,000 liters (31,702 gallons) of its premium lager to Bulgaria last year.
AP