The municipal court in Vilnius gave the Czech brewer, Budejovicky Budvar, the rights to the exclusive use of the name Budweiser Lithuania. That was a further legal victory of the Czech brewer over the US brewing giant, Anheuser-Busch. In May, the Vilnius court ruled that A-B had no rights to use the Budweiser brand in Lithuania because Budvar had registered the trademark first. The court said it was irrelevant that Anheuser-Busch had registered the trademark in a number of other countries.

The Lithuanian ruling is the third notable victory the Czech brewer has enjoyed recently in a long-term brand name war with Anheuser stretching over many markets. Recently, Budejovicky Budvar has claimed similar victories in Taiwan and Spain.

25 July, 2003