By Mike Cherney

Law360, New York (September 11, 2009, 12:00 PM ET) -- A Massachusetts appeals court has ruled in favor of the state's Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission against Anheuser-Busch Inc., saying the commission did not unlawfully rescind a license to sell hard alcohol that was previously held by an Anheuser-Busch subsidiary.

Judge Mitchell J. Sikora Jr. of the Massachusetts Appeals Court wrote Thursday that state law prohibited granting such a license to out-of-state alcoholic beverage manufacturers such as Missouri-based Anheuser-Busch, unless it had been grandfathered in prior to 1966.

The court found it was clear the legislative intent...