Heineken cracks down on Swiss ‘Keineken’

updated 2:56 p.m. ET Sept. 1, 2009

AMSTERDAM - Swiss police have seized 1,000 bottles of locally made "Keineken" beer after the Dutch beer giant Heineken NV complained its brand was being infringed.

The name "Keineken" appears to be a pun in German meaning "No Heineken."

Heineken spokesman Jeroen Breuer said Tuesday a judge in the Swiss canton of Obwalden ordered police to seize the brew after agreeing Keineken infringed the Heineken brand.

Breuer said Heineken doesn't consider the size of its opponents when its brand is being misused.

"Whether the name is a joke or a way of getting publicity — those are questions for them to answer," he said.

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

"Our name says it all: Keineken."

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