SAN MARCOS, Calif., Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural Alternatives International, Inc. ("NAI") (NASDAQ: NAII), a leading formulator, manufacturer and marketer of customized nutritional supplements, announced today that on January 20 it instituted two new patent litigations against BPI Sports Holdings, LLC d/b/a BPI Sports, LLC and BPI Sports ("BPI") and Image Sports, LLC d/b/a Image Nutrition LLC ("Image") in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, for infringing U.S. Patent No. 8,067,381 ("the '381 patent"), entitled "Methods and compositions for increasing the anaerobic working capacity in tissues."  The '381 patent was issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is part of NAI's worldwide portfolio covering CarnoSyn® beta-alanine.

NAI filed its complaint against BPI in federal court after BPI failed to comply with a cease and desist demand. The complaint alleges that BPI infringes the '381 patent by making, using, offering for sale and selling nutritional supplements and bundled supplement products containing beta-alanine such as its 1.M.R.™ product.  NAI also filed a separate lawsuit for infringement of the '381 patent alleging that Image makes, uses, offers for sale and sells nutritional supplements and bundled supplement products containing beta-alanine such as its Alarm™ product.  The two new lawsuits follow NAI's December 21, 2011 filing of a patent infringement action alleging infringement of the '381 patent against Woodbolt Distribution, LLC, Vitaquest International, Inc., d/b/a Garden State Nutritionals and F.H.G. Corporation, d/b/a Integrity Nutraceuticals regarding certain beta-alanine containing products.

Mark A. LeDoux, NAI's CEO and Chairman of the Board, explained the filing of two new lawsuits by saying that "NAI has made a significant corporate investment in its growing patent portfolio related to CarnoSyn® beta-alanine and, when necessary, will continue to address infringement of its intellectual property using the federal court system.  NAI will continue to vigorously develop and grow its patent estate that includes claims covering human dietary supplements containing the increasingly popular amino acid, beta-alanine.  Currently, the only duly licensed distributor of NAI's CarnoSyn® beta-alanine product is Compound Solutions, Inc., a science and marketing based distributor of raw materials to the sports nutrition, dietary supplement, food, pharmaceutical and personal care industries.  NAI is represented by the Washington, D.C. based law firm of Patton Boggs LLP.

NAI, headquartered in San Marcos, California, is a leading formulator, manufacturer and marketer of nutritional supplements and provides strategic partnering services to its customers. NAI's comprehensive partnership approach offers a wide range of innovative nutritional products and services to NAI's clients including: scientific research, clinical studies, proprietary ingredients, customer-specific nutritional product formulation, product testing and evaluation, marketing management and support, packaging and delivery system design, regulatory review and international product registration assistance. For more information about NAI, please see its website at http://www.nai-online.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws that are not historical facts and information. These statements represent our intentions, expectations and beliefs concerning future events, including, among other things, our expectations and beliefs with respect to our future financial and operating results, the outcome of pending litigation, the continued validity of our patents, and our ability to successfully develop, license and enforce our intellectual property rights. We wish to caution readers these statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes for future periods to differ materially from any forward-looking statement or views expressed herein. NAI's financial performance and the forward-looking statements contained herein are further qualified by other risks including those set forth from time to time in the documents filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

CONTACT – Kenneth Wolf, Chief Operating and Chief Financial Officer, Natural Alternatives International, Inc., at 760-736-7700 or investor@nai-online.com.

Web site: http://www.nai-online.com

SOURCE Natural Alternatives International, Inc.