US Bud beer to be legal in Austria

By Rebecca Musgrave

US brewers Anheuser-Busch may soon be allowed to sell “Bud” and “American Bud” in Austria.

According to newspapers Kurier and WirtschaftsBlatt today, the decision has been made by the Supreme Court and will bring to an end the on-going legal dispute between the American brewers and the Czech brewers, Budweiser Budvar.

The Budweiser brewers brought a temporary injunction against the selling of “Bud” in Austria in 1999 which was passed by the Commercial Court in Vienna and ultimately by the Supreme Court. The lawsuit from the Czech brewers has now been dismissed however, and the beer can be legally sold in Austria.

Since 1976, when Budweiser Budvar created the Austrian-Czech agreement for trademark protection, the case has gone through the European Court Of Justice twice. According to judges the agreement made in 1976 is no longer relevant – and Budvar’s case against Anheuser-Busch has been dismissed.