A long-running battle between Estee Lauder and Excite over internet advertising has been settled.

The row began in January 1999 when the cosmetics giant filed a lawsuit against the internet search engine, accusing it of selling rights to words including "Estee Lauder" and "Origins", an Estee Lauder brand name, to rival cosmetics firms.

Estee Lauder alleged that Excite sold its trademarked names to the online retailer Fragrance Counter.

Internet search engines have long been selling rights to key words to advertisers who want their banner ads to appear when those words are entered by an internet user.

Under the terms of the settlement, Estee Lauder has regained the rights to words that appear in its brand names. Its own ads will now pop up when users enter those words.