After years of legal wrangling, Gillette and Schick have reportedly reached a settlement that puts an end to the majority of long-running disputes over patents and advertising claims.

The matter was settled out of court last week with terms confidential, according to news reports. The two said they would end their courtroom battle, but continue the fight in the marketplace.

The legal battle began in 2003 and ended before the razor rivals were set to go to court.

Procter & Gamble owns the Gillette brand and Schick is a unit of Energizer Holdings, Inc. Gillette, purchased by P&G late last year, has more than two-thirds of the global razor and blade market. Schick has about 20%, reports said.

One of the big fights was over a Gillette patent that it said would cover any razor with three blades or more. Energizer bowed its four-bladed Quattro after Gillette's three-bladed razors hit stores.

In a separate development, Gillette, as part of its multi-pronged campaign supporting the launch of it Fusion shaving systems, held "the largest flip card stunt" ever just prior to the start of last weekends Daytona 500 race. More than 118,000 fans were given one card to produce two stunts. During the singing of the National Anthem, the cards showed a patriotic design and then flipped to reveal the Gillette Fusion logo. The stunt was slated to air live during pre-race coverage on NBC.

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