Lonza Files Suit Against Nutraceutical International

Lonza Files Suit Against Nutraceutical International

NEW YORKLonza Ltd.filed suit inthe District Court for the Southern District of New York against Park City,Utah-based Nutraceutical International Corp. and several of its subsidiaries forpatent infringement. Fair Lawn, N.J.-based Lonza alleged several productsinfringe on its U.S. Patent No. 5,073,376, which covers oral preparations ofL-carnitine L-tartrate.

The validity of the patent was recently affirmed by the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), after another carnitine supplier, CarnitechInc., filed a request with the PTO to review whether the patent was valid. InMay 2003, Carnitech settled in a patent infringement filed by Lonza concerningthe same patent.

Nutraceutical released a statement that on March 4, thecompany filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah against Lonza fordeclaratory judgment of non-infringement, invalidity and non-enforceability ofthe same patent.