This Budejovicky’s For You

Anheuser-Busch is halting negotiations with a Czech brewer over use of the Budweiser name in nine countries, instead turning to litigation.

For now, the St. Louis-based company will continue to sell the beer under the name “Bud,” rather than “Budweiser” in France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Russia, Luxembourg and Israel, officials said Monday.

Anheuser-Busch and the Czech government-run brewer Budejovicky Budvar have been negotiating for nine years over the trademark rights to the Budweiser name in the disputed countries.

At least seven cases are pending as the company fights for use of the Budweiser name in Europe and the Middle East. Anheuser-Busch and Budvar have sparred over the Budweiser name for 80 years.

The German name for the Czech brewery’s hometown, Ceske Budejovice, is “Budweis.” The Czechs say “Budweiser” describes the beer and the region. In 1939, the two carved up world markets in a trademark settlement.