A Bud Is A Bud Is A Budweiser

Monday, Aug. 04, 2003
    • Budweiser may seem like the all-american beer, but its name comes from a Czech town whose local brewery won court battles last week in Lithuania and Japan over Anheuser-Busch's efforts to keep the Bud name exclusive. Similar trademark concerns will arise at trade talks next month, and if some countries get their way, dozens of generic food names will be restricted to their regions of origin:

    FETA CHEESE
    Greece has stopped Danish and German imitators from using the name and wants others to do the same

    CHAMPAGNE
    Vintners in countries outside France use the term for products sold in their home markets; the French say non!

    PARMA HAM
    A Canadian company has secured rights to the name, forcing Italian exporters to call the meat something else in Canada; Italy wants this changed presto

    BASMATI RICE
    Though they are nuclear foes, India and Pakistan have joined forces to secure the name of this rice