Everything You Need to Know About Food Patents

Some believe that an ‘invention’ can only occur in a laboratory or a workshop. This thought process is, to some extent, supported by the state of modern science. We know useful inventions with the capacity for commercial revenue may be eligible for a patent, but let us also consider the matter of a ‘food patent’. Food patents qualify as ‘utility patents,’ since food has a genuine utility in our world. Food patents, then, can include edible food items and other procedures that simplify an existing means to prepare food. Patent lawyers and agents have noticed an increased number of patent applications that contain new, innovative recipes that make a difference.

Is It Possible to Patent a Food Recipe?

Food is really a composition of matter, qualifying it as one of those various categories that can merit a patent. However, certain rules that apply to a standard invention also apply to a food recipe. The following are the criteria that determine the patentability of a food recipe.

Obviousness

To determine patentability in a case of a standard invention, an individual with relative familiarity in the field relevant to the invention is called on to assess its obviousness. If a regular chef can deconstruct and recreate the same recipe without external help, then the recipe may not qualify for a patent. The difficulty with food patents is that the ingredients used to create a specific flavor are generally already known. If you want to make a cookie sweeter, add sugar or a sweetener.

Originality

The key criterion for a food recipe to secure that all-important patent is uniqueness or originality. The recipe must have a certain distinguishable feature that is distinct and separate enough from everything that has been invented before it.

Usefulness

The applicant, in the case of a standard invention, must prove that their invention has commercial or industrial application. In the case of a food recipe, the advantage you have is that it’s relatively simple for the applicant to prove its ‘utility.’ In the case of a food recipe, ‘utility’ simply equates to ‘safe edibility’.

What Lies Within the Confines of Patentability?

Innovators can experiment on multiple tangents as food patents are awarded not just to recipes, but also to ‘inventions’ that bring improvements to existing processes.

• A patent can be awarded for altering the shape of an existing food item, depending on the extensiveness and usefulness of its change
• A patent can be awarded for an invention that is a result of merging two existing food items or flavours
• Improvements to the taste or texture of existing food items, although hard to prove, can result in a patent
• Prolonging the shelf life of an existing food product beyond normality by safe means can also result in patentability
• Any invention that simplifies an existing procedure merits a patent

Did you apply for a patent yet? Do you know how to go about the process? The patent application process is a complex one, and you may want help if you are unfamiliar with the process. Contact our team for a consultation.