Heineken and InBev Settle Over Draught Systems

09/01/07 Heineken N.V. has announced that Heineken, Philips and InBev have resolved their ongoing patent litigation concerning the home beer draught system of Philips and InBev.

Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. The brewers said that the differences have been resolved in a mutually acceptable manner and as a result, all pending litigations between the parties have been stopped with immediate effect.

Back in December 2005, the judge in interlocutory proceedings of the Court of The Hague dismissed Heineken's request that sales of the PerfectDraft in The Netherlands be discontinued. The judge's preliminary ruling stated that the PerfectDraft from Philips and InBev did not infringe any Heineken patent.