A patent is a legal document granting its owner exclusivity over an invention: an innovation that represents a new inventive technological progress., Various entities pursue patent protection to safeguard their inventions from imitation and mimicry, increasing the likelihood of financial return. Although a company’s success will not necessarily depend on the nature of the patents it registers, owning a strong patent portfolio can provide a company with a competitive advantage and increase its intrinsic value in the eyes of potential investors and partners.
In the alternative protein field, the world of patents is still in its infancy, and companies in the field face unique challenges in obtaining protection for their inventions. Alternative protein companies are reshaping technologies to produce different food products that have not changed substantially over the years. For example, when soybeans are ground and crushed, and water is added, we get soy milk. It is a common product produced in a familiar way that does not express substantial innovation. But when a food engineer extracts proteins from the soy plant and organizes them in a way that does not occur naturally in soy, imitating the fibrous texture of meat, a patent-worthy technological innovation is born.
How do you define well-known ingredients rearranged in an original and innovative way?
Let us use an example to illustrate this, using a staple product – a chicken egg. How many dishes can be derived from the same egg? We can easily think of it served sunny-side-up, scrambled, soft and hard-boiled, and as an omelet. What do all these dishes have in common? Their list of ingredients: a yolk and an egg white. What differentiates them? the biological arrangement, and sometimes, coagulation state of each of these components. This can be demonstrated by a soft-boiled egg: the protein hardens and envelops the yolk, which remains liquid. In contrast, in a scrambled egg, the two ingredients are mixed and are no longer in a liquid state.
As these dishes have been public knowledge and are known by all, they cannot be patented.
In the alternative protein industry, companies are working toward discovering new sources for components that were previously only found naturally. Additionally, the assembly process of these ingredients is developed in forms that aren’t recognized today. But that’s not all, when the new ingredients are utilized, it will become necessary to examine their organoleptic (taste, smell, and appearance) and rheological (texture) properties – in order to decide whether they form an alternative to an animal product or qualify as an entirely new category.
The alternative protein industry is presenting new challenges to the world of patents:
- Differentiating composition and formulation. The majority of patent examiners who will be tasked with inspecting patent applications in the alternative protein world possess background experience in the field of pharmaceuticals (medicine), where the importance of the composition (the list of ingredients) is paramount. Nonetheless, the list of ingredients is usually known in the field of alternative protein, and the innovation lies in the formulation of the protein (the chemical interactions between the ingredients and the relative spatial arrangement between them).
- The industry is characterized by a lack of transparency and clear well-established criteria regarding the classification of alternative protein products. For example, if the alternative protein product is similar enough to a traditional animal product, it can be labeled as an alternative to that product. Conversely, if the alternative protein product is not similar enough to a traditional product, it will be categorized in a new classification of its own. However, there are no set criteria as to the definition of “similar”.
Alternative protein companies put a lot of effort into creating products that deliver the same taste, smell, color, texture, and mouthfeel as their traditional counterparts. There are two main motivations for achieving this: The first is to provide consumers with animal-free products that deliver the same taste and experience as the ones they know and love without the need for an animal source. The second is that such products, identical to their animal-based equivalents will significantly increase the chances of companies to convince the patent examiners that substantial scientific and technological progress has been achieved, and therefore it is entitled to receive protection (patent) for these products.
In order to accelerate the alternative protein revolution, which many Israeli companies are leading, it is necessary to create an infrastructure that will allow a fast and efficient process for examining patents in this field. Such a process will give companies protection and encourage further innovation – an innovation that will guarantee there is a stable supply of high-quality, nourishing food for our world’s growing population while preserving our planet’s precious resources.
The article was written in collaboration with Patent Attorney Dr. Eran Noah, an intellectual property manager at Remilk, a startup producing animal-free dairy proteins.
Ido Eliashar is an entrepreneur in the field of alternative protein, Business Development Manager at Remilk, and Advisory Board Member at Vegan-Friendly.Org. Works to commercialize Israeli alternative protein products worldwide and was a partner in launching dozens of innovative food products to the Israeli market. Founder of the pioneer entrepreneur’s community “Health & FoodTech TLV”.
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