Tate & Lyle Regulatory News (TATE)

7 Apr 2009 07:00

Tate & Lyle PLC

ITC patent infringement case: update

Tate & Lyle PLC ("Tate & Lyle") reports that the full six-person International Trade Commission ("ITC") in Washington D.C. yesterday upheld in all material respects the initial ruling of an Administrative Law Judge of the ITC given on 22 September 2008 in respect of its patent-infringement case against certain manufacturers of Chinese sucralose. This represents a binding and final determination by the ITC.

Tate & Lyle will review the ITC's full final determination in detail when it is received and then evaluate its possible options in respect of any further appeals through the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

Karl Kramer, President, Tate & Lyle Sucralose said, "While this development is disappointing, intellectual property is just one of the many components which define Tate & Lyle's formidable competitive advantage in the global sucralose business. Our manufacturing facilities operate at a level of cost, efficiency and environmental stewardship surpassed by none, producing 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."

For more information contact Tate & Lyle PLC:

About Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle is a world-leading renewable food and industrial ingredients company, serving a global market from over 50 production facilities throughout the Americas, Europe and South East Asia. Our efficient, large-scale manufacturing plants turn agricultural products, corn and cane sugar into valuable ingredients for our customers. These ingredients add taste, texture, nutrition and increased functionality to products that millions of people around the world use or consume every day.

Tate & Lyle's range of leading branded food ingredients include SPLENDA® Sucralose, PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber, STA-LITE®, Polydextrose, Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Sugar and Lyle's Golden Syrup. Tate & Lyle also produces branded industrial ingredients including Bio-PDO™, Ethylex® and STA-Lock® paper starches; and staple ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, sugar, ethanol, citric acid and basic starches. In addition to providing a wide range of ingredients, our expert sales and product applications teams support customers by providing technical advice and proprietary consumer insight studies.

Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. American Depositary Receipts trade under TATYY. In the year to 31 March 2008, Tate & Lyle employed 6,488 people in its subsidiaries and joint ventures, and sales totalled £3.4 billion.

SPLENDA® is a trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC

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