Anheuser-Busch Inc. v. Budĕjovický Budvar
European Court of Justice
2004 ECR I-10989 (2004)
- Written by Wesley Bernhardt , JD
Facts
Anheuser-Busch Inc. (plaintiff), an American corporation, had owned the trademarks Budweiser, Bud, Bud Light, and Budweiser King of Beers in Finland since 1980. Budĕjovický Budvar (Budvar) (defendant) registered the trademark Budweiser Budvar in Czech and French. Anheuser-Busch filed suit in Finland seeking to enjoin Budvar from using these marks, arguing that the two marks could cause confusion because they both referenced beer. The Finnish courts ruled that there was not enough evidence to conclude that the English version, Budweiser, was well known in Finland before Anheuser-Busch registered the trademarks there. The Finnish courts then referred to the European Court of Justice the question of whether a trademark not registered or established by use in a European Union member state could receive protection by way of existing prior right.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
What to do next…
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
