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BRUSSELS, Belgium — A European Union high court scrapped on Tuesday a trademark for Anheuser-Busch InBev’s famous "Bud" beer name in Europe.

However, Belgian brewer A-B InBev says the ruling won’t affect its current trademark rights among individual countries within the EU.

The Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance said the EU’s trademark agency had "made several errors" in previously rejecting arguments by Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar NP against A-B InBev’s trademark application.

Because of the ruling, A-B InBev can no longer claim trademark rights for the entire EU region but must rely on separate national trademarks.

Gwendoline Ornigg, a spokeswoman at AB InBev, said in an e-mail statement that the decision would have "no effect" on the brewer’s "already extensive Bud rights throughout the European Union."

"It is immaterial to the global Budweiser growth strategy," Ornigg said. She said the company still enjoyed trademark protection for Budweiser or Bud in 23 of the 27 EU nations.

She added that the company was reviewing the ruling further before making a decision on an appeal.

The ruling is part of a complex set of decisions about the name "Budweiser" and its derivatives in Europe over the past years.

Anheuser-Busch, which was taken over by Belgian brewer InBev this year to produce A-B InBev, filed several trademark applications between 1996 and 2000 to protect its most iconic beer brand "Budweiser" and "Bud no faxing pay day loans." Its trademark had covered the use of the word "Bud" on signs, beer labels and promotional goods in the 27 nations of the EU.

The exclusive use of the famous names have seen a number of legal challenges by Budvar, which itself lays claim to the use of the brand.

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For about a century, the two companies have struggled over trademarks, including rights to use "Budweiser" and "Bud."

Anheuser-Busch first used the Budweiser brand in 1876. Budvar, founded in 1895, says it has the right to sell beer labeled "Budweiser" because the name of its headquarters city translates to "Budweis" in German and brewers there have been using the name for centuries.

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