Europe's second-highest court today dismissed a case taken by German brewer Bitburger Brauerei against US rival Budweiser over the right to use the word "Bud" as a trademark.
The German company, which brews Bitburger Beer, took the case to the Court of First Instance in a bid to overturn a 2004 decision by Germany's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market that found in favour of the US brewer.
Bitburger based its opposition on the existence of its own national trademark "BIT" and the earlier figurative trademarks "BIT" and "Bitte ein Bit", which it said were close to the word "Bud".
But the Luxembourg-based court ruled: "The Court of First Instance concludes that, considered as a whole, the marks at issue are not similar and there is no likelihood of confusion."
Bitburger has two months to appeal the decision to the European Court of Justice, Europe's highest court.
The case had been put on hold during the soccer World Cup after Budweiser, an official sponsor of the tournament, agreed to give 30 per cent of sales to the family-run German brewery following a public outcry over the awarding of the rights.
Under the agreement, Budweiser was allowed to use the term "Bud" for the duration of the eight-week tournament in June and July.
The company which brews Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch, was founded by German immigrants Adolphus Busch and Busch's father-in-law Eberhard Anheuser. It is banned from using the "Budweiser" trademark in Germany, however, due to legal disputes with Czech brewer Budweiser Budvar.
Germans must buy their Budweiser beer under the Anheuser-Busch Bud label.