Heineken takes Philips to court over home draught beer appliance
September 29th, 2005
Heineken has requested an injunction in summary proceedings on the sale of home draught beer appliance of its competitor Interbrew. The brewery claims that the systems sold by Interbrew and Philips infringes patents that Heineken – and its partner Krups – previously registered for their Beertender.
Heineken developed the Beertender together with its partner Krups. Heineken supplies the beer and Krups manufactures the appliance. Since its introduction in early 2004, more than 100,000 Beertenders have been put on the market and Heineken has sold almost three million four-litre barrels of its Heineken, Amstel and Brand beers. Heineken’s Beertender was the only home draught beer appliance on the market.