The Circumstances
The case at issue in the ruling of the Milan Court of Appeal ( which upholds almost in full the decision of the Court of Milan 26 November 1998 in Giur. ann. dir. ind., 1998, p. 992 ) is fairly complex and has given rise to a suit of worldwide proportions. " Budweiser" beer, produced by the U.S. company Anheuser-Busch and known also as "Bud", has been, for some decades now, the world’s best-selling beer, sales of which currently amount to around an annual 30.000 billion lire. In a number of countries, above all European including Italy, its marketing has been impeded or, at any rate, challenged by a Czech Republic state-owned company named Budejovicky Budvar narodni podnik. This firm registered the name " Budweiser " some time ago both as a trademark and as an appellation of origin, to designate a beer that has, for many years, been produced in a city called Ceské Budejovice but which, in certain periods of its history, also bore the German name " Budweis". Some
