StemCells, Inc., a leader in the research and development of cell-based therapeutics for the treatment of disorders of the CNS, announced that the company's patent infringement case, StemCells, Inc. v. Neuralstem, Inc., has been dismissed by the US 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 US Patents Nos. 5,968,829 and 7,153,686 and US 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.