Brussels, Belgium, 14 January 2009 -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Sonoco Alcore S.a.r.l., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonoco (NYSE: SON - News), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, announced that the Opposition Division of the European Patent Office again upheld the European patent EP 1 071 556 on the use of wide-ply board technology in the production of cores for the paper industry M-Series cores. The decision can be appealed.

The combination of the wide-ply in-house manufactured coreboard and Sonoco Alcore’s proprietary manufacturing technique give the M-Series cores increased performance characteristics to meet the higher demands of today’s paper industry.

Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l. operates 30 tube and core plants and six paper mills on the European continent and in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a USD 4.0 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, with more than 300 operations in 35 countries, serving customers in some 85 nations. For more information on the company, visit http://www.sonoco.com.