Anheuser-Busch Loses Swiss Appeal

Switzerland’s highest court has ruled against U.S.-brewed “Bud” beer in a battle over trade names, according to a report today. St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. took its case to the Federal Tribunal in late 1997 after a trade tribunal ruled that the U.S. beer should not be sold as “Bud” in Switzerland because of a risk of confusion with the name “Budweiser,” claimed by state-owned Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar. Switzerland’s high court has upheld that decision, the Zurich weekly Cash reported. Anheuser-Busch Chief Executive Stephen J. Burrows said the ruling would not affect the pending trademark case outside Switzerland.