Fuel Additives Leader Re-Affirms Technology Investment Policy

Infineum is the world leader in diesel fuel additives, and provides innovative solutions for its many customers across the globe. Infineum's successful fuel additives business has been the product of long term heavy investment in research.

To meet the environmental challenges of the future, Infineum has developed a variety of additive treatments for improving the quality of modern, low sulphur diesel fuels. Such products offer Infineum customers the critical ability to differentiate their fuels whilst meeting increasingly challenging environmental targets.

Being a technology leader is not without risk in today's competitive market. To be worthwhile, both that investment in research and the advantages it brings to the customer must be protectable from unlawful exploitation through the use of intellectual property laws. For these reasons, Infineum invests heavily in its extensive intellectual property portfolio, built up over many years, to ensure its customers can continue to benefit from Infineum's research-driven and customer focussed strategy.

Infineum has invested in a patent portfolio extending to countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. The grant of some European patents - a sub-group of the much larger patent portfolio in the area of diesel fuel additives - has been the subject of challenge by Infineum's competitors in opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office.

In recent years, Infineum has successfully defended oppositions to European Patents 0 721 492, 0 802 961 and 0 839 174. The fundamental patentability of these inventions, each concerning the use of additives for improving the poor lubricating properties of low sulphur fuels, has been re-affirmed by the European Patent Office in decisions which have rejected the opponents' claims for patent revocation, and upheld the patents in modified form.

More recently in November 2005, the Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office finally confirmed an earlier ruling upholding European Patent 0 807 155 in a modified form. This recent decision further supports Infineum's long-held view that inventions enabling the use of low-emissions fuels warrant patent protection. The invention protected by the 155 patent, which concerns the benefit from using particular dispersant and lubricity additive combinations in low sulphur diesel fuel, has proved an important milestone in Infineum's development of products for environmentally friendly fuels. Counterparts to this patent exist in the United States and other countries.

As Infineum continues to develop its patent portfolio, occasional local reversals are seen as part of the usual patenting process, and are a normal risk assumed by a global investor in technology. They emphasise the importance of safeguarding that research investment via worldwide intellectual property.

The grant of three European patents, all based around an alternative approach to enhancing the lubricity performance of low sulphur fuels, has recently been reversed by the European Patent Office during opposition. However, counterpart patents in other countries have been granted and/or successfully defended against competitive challenge. For the future, patent applications describing other inventions in the same area are still to be progressed and examined by the relevant national patent offices, and Infineum remains fully committed to defending both its intellectual property position and the beneficial technologies it has worked so hard to develop.

Infineum is the world leader in diesel fuel additives and is committed to continue to offer its customers the most advanced additive solutions to improve the quality of modern, low sulphur diesel fuels and to provide the ability for its customers to differentiate their fuels whilst meeting environmental targets. Such a commitment requires a continued heavy investment in research as well as an intense activity in the Intellectual Property arena.

Notes to editors

The Infineum Group of Companies is a world-class petroleum additives enterprise. With headquarters in Milton Hill, UK, Infineum is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of lubricant additives used primarily in automotive, heavy-duty diesel and marine engines, and additives for gasoline and diesel fuels. Its customers are oil companies and other lubricant and fuel marketers. The Infineum product line also includes specialty additives for automotive transmission fluids, and gear and industrial oils. For more information visit the Infineum Web site at http://www.infineum.com.

Contacts:

Malcolm Rose
Tel: +44 (0)1235 549 509
Email: Malcolm.Rose@Infineum.com