Tate & Lyle loses ITC patent infringement case

Tate & Lyle PLC yesterday said that an administrative law judge at the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington DC has lost a patent infringement case in a preliminary ruling against Chineses manufacturers and importers of sucralose.

Last year the sugar manufacturer had  taken four Chinese manufacturers and 18 distributors to the International ITC in Washington accusing them of infringing Tate's a 'multilayered patent portfolio' for making sucralose.

Though Tate has spent £9 million in legal costs, the ITC judge ruled that Tate's patents had not been infringed and did not agree with Tate & Lyle's claims for patent protection. Tate has four months to reverse the decision in an appeal process before a final binding ITC judgment in January.

The judge's initial determination on the infringement ruling came after a trial earlier this year. A binding final determination by the full six-person Commission is expected by January 2009.

Robert Gibber, general counsel of Tate & Lyle, said, ''This is a complex case involving a huge amount of in-depth technical analysis and debate between scientific experts. We would not have proceeded with an ITC case unless we believed we had adequate evidence to demonstrate that our patents are being infringed. We intend to petition for an appeal of the decision by the full Commission.''

Tate is worrid that the ruling could erode its sale of Splenda, the business that was supposed to transform Tates as  potential rival sucralose makers would be emboldened to believe that its patents are not as strong as made out to be.

Karl Kramer, president, Tate & Lyle Sucralose said, ''Intellectual property is just one of a number of different layers of protection which define Tate & Lyle's formidable competitive advantage in the global sucralose business. Our facilities in the US and Singapore, which operate at a level of cost, efficiency and environmental stewardship surpassed by none, produce sucralose which meets the highest standards of quality, purity and hygiene.

Our business is built upon long-standing relationships with some of the world's leading food, beverage and pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as the established Splenda brand, which is renowned as a high quality, reliable and trusted product in a number of markets.''