Substitute/Cultivated Meat Technology: A Deep-Dive Patent Landscape Analysis
Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Abstract/Summary
Intellectual property protection, particularly patent protection, is vital for young technology based companies, both to protect innovation and to attract investment. The growing substitute meat industry is no different, but in this field obtaining granted claims to a final food product has so far been difficult.
This report takes a “deep dive” into the company patent portfolios to understand:
- The leading companies in seeking patent protection.
- The nature of the protection being sought.
- The scope of patents actually being granted.
- The type of problems encountered by companies seeking patent protection.
- The nature of the legal issues likely to be encountered by companies seeking to protect various aspects of this emerging industry.
The clear leader in terms of quantity of patents is Impossible Foods, with17 granted patents and 19 pending patent applications. Two other companies, Beyond Meat and JUST (or EAT JUST), have single digit sized patent portfolios, while all other companies own just one or two patents or pending applications.
A detailed look at those patent portfolios reveals that only Impossible Foods to date has obtained granted patent claims that are true product claims to a meat-like product.