The Importance of having an Intellectual Property Business Strategy: A Tale of Two Beers

In South Bohemia (Czech Republic) there is a town called Ceske Budejovice - Budweis in German. This town is situated near the Austrian and German borders and is well known as Budweis in both neighbouring countries because of the lager which has been brewed there for centuries. The oldest evidence of brewing in Budweis is a permission to brew, which was granted by one of the Czech kings in the 13th century. The beer and subsequently the brewery, were known by two names: Budweiser and Budvar (where "Bud" refers to the name of the town and "var" means brew in Czech).

In the 19th century in St. Louis (USA), a German immigrant Adolphus Busch married into a struggling brewery business. Having fond memories of his visits to the Czech Republic, Adolphus decided to call the beer the family produced Budweiser. Mr Busch knew the brewing procedure, as he had gained know-how from the brewery in Ceske Budejovice. The US beer is brewed in the same way1. Mr Busch also took part in an annual tasting of imported Budweiser.

Both the Czech and American Budweiser breweries expanded and each registered an international portfolio of trade marks. The increase in distribution within the global marketplace has lead to disputes arising between them. The US brewery is now known as Anheuser-Busch Inc.

So...