Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Altria Group Inc.,Reynolds American Inc. and other U.S. cigarette makers signaled that they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling barring them from selling cigarettes as “light” or “low-tar.”

Altria, the biggest U.S. cigarette maker, and the other companies asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington yesterday to delay implementation of its May 22 decision against them until the Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case.

“Defendants would be required to incur substantial, unrecoverable expenses to comply with the district court’s injunctions,” including the order barring the use of “light” or “low-tar” to describe their products, the defendants claimed in their request.

In the May decision, the appeals court upheld a 2006 ruling by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, who found the companies violated federal racketeering laws in the past and were likely to do so in the future unless restrained by the court. The decision came after a nine-month trial in a suit filed by the Clinton administration in 1999.

The companies have argued that the ban on “light” and “low-tar” descriptors, which has been delayed pending resolution of the appeal, would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and would “fundamentally alter the business landscape.”

The appeals court said the companies may be required to publish statements correcting past misstatements about addiction, the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke, the companies’ manipulation of cigarette design and the dangers of “light” and “low-tar” cigarettes.

The case is U.S. v. Philip Morris USA, 06-5267, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (Washington).

To contact the reporters on this story: Bob Van Voris in New York at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 29, 2009 00:01 EDT