StemCells files second patent suit vs. Neuralstem

Clinical-stage biotechnology company StemCells Inc. said Monday it filed a second patent lawsuit against Neuralstem in a California federal court, alleging infringement of two patents related to human neural stem cells.

In April, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted one of the patents in question to StemCells.

A previous patent suit filed by StemCells against Neuralstem in a Maryland court, which is currently on hold, involves different patents. On May 7, Neuralstem filed suit in Maryland alleging StemCells committed fraud and misconduct in gaining the new patent in April, and is seeking to invalidate it.

"While we are disappointed that Neuralstem chose to escalate matters, we have a duty to our shareholders to protect our good name and the significant value of our intellectual property portfolio built over the years," StemCells Chief Executive Officer Martin McGlynn said in a statement. "Litigation of this type can be very time consuming and expensive and might have been avoided had Neuralstem chosen to negotiate a license as others have."