News Article

Court Rules That StemCells, Inc. Lacks Standing to Pursue Patent Infringement Suit
Date: Jul 23, 2015
Source: Globe Newswire ( click here to go to the source)

Featured firm in this article: Microbot Medical Inc of Hingham, MA



StemCells, Inc. (Nasdaq:STEM), a world leader in the research and development of cell-based therapeutics for the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system, announced today that the Company's patent infringement case, StemCells, Inc. v. Neuralstem, Inc., has been dismissed by the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Maryland for lack of standing. The judge's decision was based solely on the grounds that a former associate of the named inventors on the six patents in the litigation, Drs. Samuel Weiss and Brent Reynolds, has an interest in the patents because, as a former colleague, he assisted with their early research.

"We are disappointed, of course, with the judge's unexpected decision," said StemCells, Inc. CEO Martin McGlynn. "However, it is important to remember that nothing about this case has ever had any bearing on our Company's freedom to operate. The decision does not affect StemCells, Inc.'s intellectual property portfolio beyond the Weiss and Reynolds family of litigated patents, nor the ability of the Company to execute its business agenda."

StemCells Inc.'s HuCNS‑SC® cells and platform technology are protected by multiple patent families (including U.S. Patents Nos. 5,968,829 and 7,153,686 and U.S. Patent Application No. 11/148,431, claiming highly purified populations of human neural stem cells), as well as by the Company's proprietary expertise, none of which are affected by the Court's decision.