Tate & Lyle to take Chinese to court over Splenda sweetener patent infringement

Tate & Lyle is expected to seek an injunction to stop a Chinese trading conglomerate challenging its monopoly of the sucralose market while it pursues the firm through the US courts for patent infringement.

Tate & Lyle filed a lawsuit at the US District Federal Court for Central Illinois last month against manufacturer Hebei Sukerui Science and Technology, plus six importers of sucralose into the US, alleging infringements of its patented manufacturing technology.

The Hebei-based group, which specialises in the "research, development, production and trade of new chemicals and technologies", is one of a number of companies that has recently entered the lucrative sucralose market, dominated by Tate & Lyle's Splenda product.

The lawsuit should act as a deterrent to firms considering using Tate & Lyle's patents as a blueprint for sucralose production, said Antony Gold, head of contentious intellectual property at the law firm Eversheds.

"Patent litigation is very expensive and it can drag on for ages, so with any high-value patent litigation claimants nearly always try and get an interim injunction or temporary restraining order. Otherwise, a rival could take a large slab of your market share while you are still arguing about it in court. What happens now depends on how the defendant responds."

Robert Gibber, general counsel of Tate & Lyle said: "We have a robust estate of patents and will vigorously defend and enforce them, protecting our trade secrets and preventing others from infringing our proprietary rights."

Despite Tate & Lyle's claim that rivals were only producing sucralose on a "laboratory scale", Hebei Sukerui said it would have the capacity to produce 700t of the sweetener annually by October.

Tate & Lyle's profit from sucralose soared 48% to £68M in the year to March 31, 2006.