Switzerland: Heineken not Keineken

A court in the Swiss canton of Obwalden has ruled that beer under the trademark Keineken infringed the Heineken brand and banned it from distribution, 20 Minutes Online communicated on January, 14.

Last September, Swiss police seized 1,200 bottles of locally made "Keineken" beer after the Dutch beer giant Heineken NV complained its brand was being infringed.

The name “Keineken" can be understood as a pun in German meaning "No Heineken."

A note on Keineken's Web site complains that foreign companies have "swallowed" all Switzerland's independent brewers.

The court, however, decided Heineken’s complaint was ‘credible’.

15 January, 2010