Gillette and Schick-Wilkinson Sword have reached a settlement on most of their long-standing litigation over issues such as patents and advertising claims, the world’s two largest razor makers said Thursday.
“Both companies have resolved the vast majority of litigation between them,” a Gillette spokesman said. “While Gillette and Energizer will remain competitors, we’ll compete in the marketplace, not in the courtroom.”
An Energizer spokeswoman said the matter was settled out of court within the last week, and that terms of the agreement are confidential.
Gillette is owned by Procter & Gamble Co. and Schick is a unit of Energizer Holdings Inc.. Schick-Wilkinson Sword is the No. 2 razor company behind Gillette, which was acquired by P&G in late 2005.
Gillette had argued in its litigation that any razor head with a group of three blades or more would be covered by its patent. Energizer introduced its four-bladed Quattro razors after Gillette’s three-bladed razors, such as Mach3, hit the shelves.
Schick had also sued Gillette over advertising claims.
