The sour dispute between 2 of the biggest hotel groups in the world over espionage accusations has finally been settled. This came after Hilton Worldwide, which is owned by private equity group Blackstone, agreed to an injunction that will stop them from opening any ‘lifestyle’ hotels in the next 2 years.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts launched legal action against Hilton in April 2009 on accusations that the rival employed executives that used to work for them and who had stolen trade secrets in relation to the branding and design of boutique hotels. Amar Lalvani and Ross Klein are said to have taken hundreds of thousands of electronic documents when they jumped ship and were going to develop a Denizen hotel brand for Hilton using the confidential information.

Under the agreed injunction, Hilton will be supervised by monitors that will make sure this doesn’t happen again, as well as ensure that all documentation about Starwood is removed from their files. Other terms of the settlement haven’t been and won’t be detailed. A court filing said that a federal grand jury will continue looking into if Hilton and the former Starwood executives will face criminal charges.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts president and chief executive Frits van Paasschen pioneered the boutique hotel concept, which is shown in the company’s W brand. He says that they had no choice but to protect their brands on behalf of their customers, associates, owners and investors. This settlement will reinforce this protection and restore a level playing field for fair competition, he noted. Hilton Worldwide chief executive Chris Nassetta commented that they regret the circumstances of this dispute with Starwood and are pleased to bring an end to the litigation.