Britain's Tate & Lyle has lost a US patent case against manufacturers and importers of Chinese sucralose, its super sweetener sold under the name Splenda, it said today.
The sugar and sweetener group said it intended to appeal against the preliminary ruling by a judge at the US International Trade Commission.
A binding, final ruling by the full six-person Commission is expected by January 2009.
"We would not have proceeded with an ITC case unless we believed we had adequate evidence to demonstrate that our patents are being infringed," Tate & Lyle's General Counsel, Robert Gibber, said in a statement.
Sucralose generated £148 million of sales for Tate & Lyle in the year ended March 31st and an operating profit of £66 million.
This compares with group sales of £3.4 billion and adjusted operating profit of £286 million.
Tate & Lyle shares closed at 416 pence yesterday, valuing the business at about £1.8 billion.
Reuters
