SAN MARCOS, Calif., June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural Alternatives International, Inc. (NAI) (NASDAQ: NAII), a leading formulator, manufacturer and marketer of customized nutritional supplements, announced today that it has sued Woodbolt Distribution, LLC, also known as Cellucor (Woodbolt), GNC Corporation (GNC), and Bodybuilding.com, LLC (Bodybuilding.com) for patent infringement. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Houston, Texas, alleges that Woodbolt's newly-introduced Neon Sport™ Volt™ product infringes two patents that are part of NAI's worldwide portfolio covering CarnoSyn® beta-alanine. NAI also asked the Court to preliminarily enjoin sales of Volt.

NAI's complaint is based on two patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 8,067,381 ("the '381 patent") and 8,129,422 ("the '422 patent"), both entitled "Methods and compositions for increasing the anaerobic working capacity in tissues.  "The complaint alleges that Woodbolt is marking the Neon Sport™ Volt™ product as "[a]n in your face, high energy pre-workout with unmatched doses of beta-alanine" and other ingredients, and that "Volt's signature ingredient is surely beta-alanine, and at max dose, Volt™ delivers, in many cases, more than 2x the amount of max dosed competing products."

Mark A. LeDoux, NAI's CEO and Chairman of the Board, said that "NAI's suit alleges that Woodbolt decided to launch a blatantly infringing beta-alanine product, Volt™, as a pre-workout supplement containing high amounts of beta-alanine.  The suit also alleges infringement by GNC and BodyBuilding.com for marketing and distributing the infringing product.  The defendants are well aware of NAI's '381 and '422 patents." He went on to say that "NAI will continue to take steps to protect and defend its valuable intellectual property portfolio."

NAI previously sued Woodbolt in the Southern District of Texas for infringement of the '381 and '422 patents on other Woodbolt products – C4 Extreme, M5 Extreme, N0 Extreme, BCAA and Cre. That case is pending.

NAI is represented in the case by the Patton Boggs LLP and Bracewell & Guiliani law firms.

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.