Food! The very word tickles the taste buds and all sorts of food names pop up in our minds along with the pictures of those delicious stuff. The simple and rustic food which was once eaten to satisfy hunger and keep us alive has over the time evolved and many countless recipes have emerged. Inventions; innovations and mind blowing creations are part of the culinary arts and food industry.
The current generation celebrates food like no other. Each and every passing day sees many food bloggers, food writers, you tubers on a constant quest to taste and enjoy new dishes. Food lovers go in search of interesting, colourful and eye catchy dishes. Terms like food porn have become quite common these days. Instagram and Facebook are flooded with unimaginable creativity in the form of food. Shows like eat street and fabulous cakes in fox life and TLC respectively showcase the current trend and demand leading to food industry turning more and more creative resulting in more and more inventions and innovations like no other.
Signature dishes are the order of the day. Shows like master chef have created awareness on the functioning of the food and hospitality industry and Chef as a profession has become quite sought after.
Baking has attained new high in past few years. All this and many such and much more is happening in the food industry. Molecular gastronomy is all over making the entire dining experience extremely fun and interesting.
The food industry being a store house of intellectual creations, it is important to claim concrete ownership over the same to stop others from leveraging some one else’s intellectual property. Often, there is always a tendency of parasitic behavior to feed on others creations. Scope for creativity in the world of food and drink is humongous. Lot of intellectual property is generated in this industry, whether you believe it or not. It is all money and nothing but money. In no other creative business can you so easily identify money attached to your creative property. Nonetheless, there is less protection or hardly any protection than any other industry. IP protection has traditionally been under utilized in the food space and often, the line between coping and inspiration are blurred here.
This post is all about protecting the intellectual creations in the food industry and monetising strategies in the food industry.
Already wondering how intellectual property and food are related?
1. New and novel food inventions and food related inventions can be protected as PATENTS. For example, A invented food product, machines, packaging, innovative processes etc.
2. The names of food products/ restaurants/ food joints/ ice cream parlors can be protected as TRADE MARKS/TRADE NAMES.
3. The shape of a product can also be protected as TRADEMARK/TRADE DRESS. The packaging of the product can be protected as a TRADE DRESS.
4. Copyright will be useful in protecting recipes/ compilation of recipes.
5. Secret recipes/ formulas and mixtures that enhance the taste or the look of the food or a food product are called TRADE SECRETS. TRADE SECRETS are be kept top secret. They help a great in commercialising a product.
6. INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS protect commercial food products with an aesthetic design.
7. Food products / agriculture produce,/wines and spirits/dairy/ meat etc. whose taste and quality can be attributed to geographical factors such as place, climate, soil, time of harvest etc. can receive protection as GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS.
In the next part of the post let us have a look at some examples of the intellectual properties created in the food industry.
