"A-B did not achieve significant success in defending or registering its trademark in countries of the former Soviet Union until The PBN Company joined the A-B team and initiated government and public affairs activities in support of our legal effort," — Frank Hellwig,
Senior Associate General Counsel at Anheuser-Busch Companies

Client:

Anheuser-Busch Companies
 

The Assignment:

Anheuser-Busch Companies’ attempts to register its world-famous BUD trademark in the Russian Federation since 1989 were blocked by the Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar (“Budvar”). Budvar asserted that BUD is a geographic indication for the Czech Republic town of Cezky budven, a claim disputed by A-B and rejected by courts and other tribunals around the world. Because of its inability to register its trademarks, A-B could not sell its world famous BUDWEISER beer in Russia. The PBN Company’s assignment was to provide public affairs support to A-B’s legal effort to resolve the trademark dispute with Budvar and to register and protect A-B’s famous trademarks in Russia, Moldova and Kazakhstan. (Budvar had also registered BUD as an appellation of origin or A/O in Kazakhstan and was applying for an A/O registration in Moldova.)
 

PBN’s Strategy:

A-B, its legal team and The PBN Company determined that this case had to be positioned in a larger context — as a litmus test in the countries’ efforts to bring the intellectual property regimes up to international standards. By raising its visibility and importance, we could increase the chances of a fair and unbiased review of the case on its merits. With this as our platform, The PBN Company implemented a comprehensive program that included advocacy and educational efforts aimed at Russian, Kazakhi and Moldovan government officials as well as close cooperation and outreach to key U.S. government officials and the news media.
 

Results:

All of the program objectives were achieved and starting in May 2001 A-B could sell its world-famous BUD beer in Russia.

Rospatent (the Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks) cancelled Budvar’s A/O registration for BUD by on the grounds that BUD is not a geographic term. The Kazakhi patent office cancelled Budvar’s A/O registration and secured a registration for A-B’s BUD trademark. In Moldova, Budvar’s application for an A/O registration for BUD was rejected by the Moldovan patent office, resulting in an issuance of other BUD-related marks to A-B in Moldova.
 

Our Work:

Presentation "BUD. From Our House to Yours: A Russian Success Story". Open (57 KB)

Frank Hellwig, Senior Associate General Counsel of Anheuser-Busch Companies, Remarks at the Euroforum Conference on "Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Russia and the CIS", Moscow, January 2002. Read