US brewer loses court battle over Budweiser name

Anheuser-Busch, the American brewing giant bought last year by Belgian brewer Inbev, has lost its appeal with the European Court of First Instance to trademark the name ‘Budweiser' across the European Union.

The firm first attempted to register the lager brand in the EU in 1996, a move opposed by Czech brewing firm Budejovicky Budvar, whose own Budweiser Budvar had been registered in Austria, France and the former Czechoslovakia in 1958.

The European trade mark office, OHIM, backe...