Rockwood Press Release

Rockkwood Pigments Files Suit Against Interstar Materials, Inc. (March 2002)

On March 25, 2002, Rockwood Pigments NA Inc., filed suit in the U.S. Federal Court in Chicago against Interstar Materials, Inc., Quebec, Canada, for inducing infringement of Rockwood's patent for coloring concrete (USPN 4,946,505). Rockwood alleges that Interstar actively induces infringement of the '505 patent by directing concrete products manufacturers to use GRANASTAR to color concrete according to the '505 patented process. The 505 patented process covers the making of colored concrete with pigment granules.

"Rockwood Pigments continues to emphasize the importance of protecting product innovations, which in turn protects our customers and our commitment to research and development. Rockwood has successfully enforced the '505 patent in the past and will in the future." commented Ronald L. Rapaport, Managing Director, Rockwood Pigments.

Rockwood's Granufin® is the leading granulated pigment for the coloring of concrete products and together with Granumat® dosing equipment, provides a complete system approach with clean, accurate and efficient manufacturing results.

Rockwood Pigments is headquartered in Beltsville, MD, and is the second largest worldwide supplier of synthetic iron oxide pigments to the construction, coatings and specialties markets. The pigment operations are part of Rockwood Specialties Inc., Princeton, NJ, U.S.A.

Rockwood, headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, USA, is a leading global specialty chemical company with sales of more than $800 million. The company focuses on niche segments of the specialty chemical market, including additives, specialty compounds, electronic chemicals, materials and services. Rockwood Specialties maintains operations in North America, Europe and Asia with a workforce of over 2,500 employees.