Can i patent ingredients

In this way, you can legally protect your trade secret. If you want to create an NDA for your employees, consult with an attorney who specializes in corporate law. If you're pretty sure you've cracked the secret ingredient in your competitor's hot wing sauce or figured out how to make a replica of your local bar's mango margaritas, nothing is stopping you from making and selling the same product.

Likewise, you can compete with local businesses by positioning competing promotions on the same days your competitors offer promotions. However, be careful about the language used in your advertising, and consider the potential unintended side effects of running a copycat business.

Since a name can be trademarked much easier than a recipe, you should err on the side of caution and avoid calling your wings by the exact same name as the restaurant down the street.

Chains are particularly notorious for trademarking foods and beverages, but small businesses can do it too. Offering promotions to compete with local businesses is a good idea, but you may be better off thinking of your own promotion ideas rather than copying other restaurants and bars. Even though promotions themselves unlike the names of promotions aren't legally protected, being perceived as behind the curve and lacking your own unique marketing ideas may give you a poor reputation in the local business community.

Is it illegal to steal a recipe, drink idea or promotion? Mona Bushnell. You definitely need to keep your restaurant's recipes secret. Here's how. Getting a patent on a food product is possible but not easy. A patent attorney can help you navigate the law. Trademarking your unique beverage or food item is good for branding. Major corporations keep their secret recipes under wraps by making them trade secrets, and you can too.

Can you patent a recipe? How much does it cost to patent a recipe? How long does a food patent last? Trademarking a recipe is great for branding. My question is how can I find any literature on a subject? I am afraid that all my bibliography will sources from the Internet and I would prefer not to upset my conservative profesors. If you could suggest me anything I would be more than happy. Thank you so much for your article it was a really inspirational read that will help me proceed with my job!

Sincerely, Joanna Bak. Any time you see a new snack food in the store? View More…. Advertise Here. Our website uses cookies to provide you with a better experience. Read our privacy policy for more information. Accept and Close. Determining whether something is patentable requires analysis of several different patentability requirements: Is the invention patentable subject matter?

Is the invention useful? Is the invention novel? Is the invention non-obvious? Are recipes useful? Recipes easily satisfy the utility requirement. Are recipes novel? Are recipes non-obvious? What kind of recipes can be patented? Here are a couple recipe related patents to give you an idea of what you might be able to protect: Fat and egg yolk substitute — Fats and eggs produce desirable taste and sensory qualities in the baked goods, but also contribute much fat and cholesterol to the baked items.

Are you looking for an advertising boom? There are currently 16 Comments comments. Paulanne Chelf February 11, pm Gene, you might have included some mention of why one obtains a patent, and what difficulties one might face in trying to enforce a recipe patent.

Gene Quinn February 12, pm T. Saur- With all due respect, this article is not intended to address what may be novel or what may be nonobvious. Gene Quinn February 12, pm Paulanne- In an earlier version of the article I did mention in one paragraph the difficulty of enforcing a recipe patent, but as the article developed it started to get long.

Jeff May 8, pm Re. Wayne Thibeaux August 29, pm I work for a quickly growing and very successful grocery company who is a HUGE player in the houston grocery market that even started dwarfing the Kroger chain. Jason August 21, pm Hi. Gene Quinn November 22, pm Brendon- Recipes are patentable subject matter, but they are virtually never patentable because of obviousness. Joanna January 23, am Sir, I am currently working on my master thesis which subject is comparing polish and american regulations concerning culinary recipe.

Varsity Sponsors. Upcoming Events. Tue Wed Thu Fri Intramural Sponsors. Popular Posts. Infringing Influencers? Federal Circuit. Patent Drafting Basics. The threshold of originality and creativity for food compositions and recipes to be patentable seems to be set particularly high.

Focusing on what makes a food composition inventive , the CCPA framed the patentability inquiry with a chemistry term— coaction. Not surprisingly, foods produced by combining traditional ingredients and using standard cooking or preparation techniques are unlikely to meet these requirements. So, is there a path to patentability for food products and recipes? Thus, a food composition may be patentable if the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, i.

For example, where a new combination of known ingredients provides a previously unknown synergistic effect, the combination may be patentable. So, if the recipe or process steps involve aspects that are counter-intuitive or go against what one skilled in the culinary arts would expect, they may be patentable. An unexpected substitute for a standard ingredient, or an additive that provides an unexpected effect on the properties of the resulting product, may clear the obviousness hurdle.

Thus, it is absolutely possible to obtain a patent on a recipe or food item. In addition, new manufacturing or processing methods, innovative packaging, and even food-related software applications are also viable and valuable options. Did you invent a recipe that you're certain has never been tasted by the world before?

You might have a uniquely delicious concoction on your hands, but in order to patent it, your recipe must be considered novel, non-obvious and useful.

Home cooks and chefs have been mixing ingredients for thousands of years, so coming up with something completely new isn't easy. If your recipe doesn't meet these qualifications, there are other legal protections you can put in place to claim it as your own.

Read on to learn more about how to patent a recipe. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue.

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Part 1. Understand what makes something patentable. All of this is to say that recipes are indeed possible to patent as long as they meet the other requirements. Determine if your recipe is novel. In legal terminology, "novel" refers to something that did not previous exist. It's very difficult to determine whether a particular mix of ingredients has been whipped up in someone's kitchen before.

There are a few forms of research you should undertake in order to see if your recipe is novel enough to patent. Search the United States Patent and Trademark Office database to see if your recipe has already been patented. Search cookbooks and the Internet for your recipe.