New ingredients and technologies are being developed as more companies are producing alternative meats – such as cultured meat, fermented meat and plant-based beef.
Patents have increased along with them. Patents are needed as companies create transformative processes and techniques.
Patents on alternative meats are increasing.
According to UnitedLex, intellectual property for meat substitutes has increased significantly with the growth of the market and covers a variety of different areas.
Some companies have filed many patents. According to UnitedLex, the American plant-based food manufacturer Impossible Foods leads the pack. It has filed more than 300 patents. The Every Co is an American biotech company that comes in second with more than 100 patent applications.
Over 200 patent applications have been filed in the US (of which over 80 have been granted). Europe has fewer than 30 granted applications. China, with over 100 grants and over 100 applications in this area, is another key player. A large proportion of applications filed in Europe or China come from US patentees. This suggests that the US dominates this sector.
How to get a patent
Nick Sutcliffe is a partner and patent attorney at law firm Mewburn-Ellis. He told FoodNavigator that, as in any other field, to obtain a patent on alternative meats, “your invention has to be completely new and different from anything that has been known before.”
He told us that there is a tension between the desire to keep knowledge secret and the need to publish patents, when it comes to the space for cultured meat.
Investments in alternative proteins
According to the latest figures, investments in alternative proteins are declining. Nadine Giser, World FundRegulation, co-founder and managing partner of strategy consultancy Bright Green Partners, says investors are forced to wait a very long time to see their products on the market because of technical issues. Regulation is the co-founder of Bright Green Partners and its managing partner. Tell usThis is another problem that is holding back these companies in their efforts to bring their products to market.
It is difficult for many of these companies to determine what should be a patent and what can be better protected as a secret.
On the one hand, after the patent is published, the world will know a secret process. This is a big risk. On the other hand, manufacturers want to "crystallize" the technology they have.
Sutcliffe believes that having an intellectual property position can stimulate collaboration within the industry. It crystallises the information you want to share.
What are the areas that should be patentable?
Sutcliffe reviews many patents in cell biology, and most of them focus on therapeutic cells. He told us that the cells for meat are “completely unique in terms of size and economics.”
Patents are required for the following key aspects of cultured meat production: the media, the cell strains and the methods by which the cells can be obtained.
Precision fermentation is another area where intellectual property is booming. Sutcliffe told us he’s seen many patents covering “the entire fermentation process.”
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