Anheuser-Busch has been the nation’s largest brewer for more than 40 years. In the mid-1800’s Adolphus Busch became familiar with the beers of a small Bohemian town called Budweis. After immigrating into the United States he married into the Anheuser brewing family. In the 1870’s Adolphus Busch registered Budweiser as a trademark in the U.S. Adolphus Busch dubbed his company Budweiser, “the king of beers.” Budweiser is a registered trademark of the St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, One Busch Place, St. Louis, Missouri 63118-1852, which is the world’s largest brewing company. Budweis is a small brewing town in the Czech republic. The town has a 700-year-old history of beer brewing. The brewing company Budvar of Budejovice registered Budweiser as a trademark in Europe in 1895. Budvar’s Budweiser is considered by beer experts to be a greater beer than the American Budweiser. Czechs are very proud of the Budvar brewery and considers its beer to be a national treasure. In the days before a global marketplace, the American Budweiser and the Czech Budweiser have never really competed with each other. However, in the 1990’s with increased global competition in the beer market, this dispute over who actually owns the Budweiser name takes on increased importance. According to a 1958 agreement signed by the Czech government, brand names that denote geographic origin are protected. So the Czech government which owns Budweiser believes that they should be the only ones allowed to carry that name in Europe. However the United States did not sign that treaty in 1958, so they do not agree with this. They have decided that it was no longer necessary for them to have a trademark settlement to develop the American Budweiser business in Europe. In recent years Anheuser-Busch has faced increased competition in the U.S. market. As a result of this increased competition the company has been looking overseas for...
