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A patent battle royale that could keep Boynton Beach-based health supplement company Vitacost from selling two widely marketed nutrients is under way in federal court.
The nutrients - combined acetyl L-Carnitine and alpha lipoic acid - are widely marketed separately on the Internet and by nutraceutical companies such as GNC and Rexall Sundown as diet enhancers and steroid alternatives.
But Juvenon, a small, San Francisco-based health supplement company that claims it holds the patent to a product that combines L-Carnitine with another nutrient, filed a federal court claim against Vitacost Nov. 12, alleging the vitamin and supplement wholesaler is cashing in on its invention.
Vitacost says Juvenon is attempting to monopolize two nutrients in the public domain since 1981 so it can charge twice as much for its product.
"They [Juvenon] can't compete with us," Vitacost CFO Wayne Gorsek said.
The federal lawsuit, filed...