Protecting Novel Foods

Clare Cornell of Finnegan looks at intellectual property considerations for creating and manufacturing novel foods, in particular vegetarian or vegan products.

When seeking to develop a new food product, thinking about intellectual property (IP) is an important step in early-stage development. IP needs to be considered from two angles: firstly will your product infringe anybody else's IP, and secondly, how will you protect your ideas, product and brand?

New production methods

Once you have a product in mind, it is prudent to consider third party IP, which might be relevant to your manufacturing process.

Novel and innovative processes in food production and processing may be protected by patents. This is often the case where new methods of processing have been developed to manufacture products which have the look and feel of meat but are made with plant-based ingredients.