The maker of Absolut Vodka, Vin & Sprit, has reported a sharp rise in profits for the third quarter.
The state-owned company, which the Swedish government plans to sell, made 692 million kronor, compared to profits of 465 million in the third quarter last year.
Turnover increased to 2.66 billion kronor, from 2.53 billion in the same period last year.
All business areas showed good growth during the period, with V&S Absolut Spirits, which markets Absolut Vodka, performing strongest.
Swedish upstart distillery Purity Vodka has taken beverage giant Absolut to court, in an attempt to straighten out a branding and marketing dispute.
Stockholm district court will look into a claim by small Swedish distillery Purity Vodka's complaint that Absolut used the word 'purity' in a marketing campaign that the former claims infringes on the Purity trademark.
The Dagens Industri business daily reported on Thursday that Absolut Vodka has used the term 'purity vodka' in a series of advertisements targeted at the US market.
"We thought they should remove the word 'purity', it is our trademark, but they refused," chairman and Purity Vodka co-founder Göran Bernhoff told the paper.
The complaint lead to Absolut Vodka countering the act by suing Purity Vodka both in Sweden and in the US.
"I'm surprised that they want to scare us, we are a small company," Bernhoff commented. "But we won't give up."
Absolut Vodka has a long past of fiercely guarding its trademark.
In 2010, the Swedish distillers sued British broadcasters at the Absolute Radio station. The dispute resulted in a confidential agreement between the two companies, allowing the radio station to keep its name.
READ ALSO: Sweden axes new word after Google intervenes
Last year, a hairdresser in Washington state in the US had to re-brand his salon after the vodka giant objected to his use of Absolute in the business name. His British colleagues appear to have stayed clear of disputes so far. A quick yellow pages search revealed on Thursday that there are still scores of Absolute Beauty salons, from Stirlingshire to Cornwall.
In Sweden, meanwhile, there are Absolute Car Towers and Absolute Catering, among seventeen other entries on phone and address directory website Hitta.se spanning cleaners to dentists.
Absolut is owned by French drinks group Pernod Ricard, which acquired the famed Swedish brand in 2008 when it purchased the Vin & Sprit (V&S) group from the Swedish state for 55 billion kronor ($8.88 billion).
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