Can you patent your recipes? The lowdown on food patents

Once and for all, can food recipes be patented? Here are basic information about the matter.
Patents may be granted for any “new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof,” the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) noted, citing Title 35 of the United States Code, Section 101. Food recipes typically have three parts, namely an ingredient list, instructions on how to use and cook them, and the final product resulting from those two components.

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 A recipe may be patented if it successfully meets a number of criteria. It should be novel—it cannot be a food item that’s already familiar to the public or an apparent combination of preexisting food items. It should be “non-obvious,” where the inventor must show that the food wouldn’t have been a trivial, routine advance beyond other previously known foods. Know that this can be quite a complicated area of patent law.

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The inventor, too, must adequately disclose the food, providing a comprehensive revelation of how to make and use it. The recipe must be readily reproducible by someone armed with ordinary skill in the industry.

Now, what if you can’t patent or trademark? Well, there’s such a thing called a “trade secret,” which can protect an original recipe but isn’t legally binding. It simply means that you have an internal system for keeping things secret. This doesn’t have a legal recourse when things go awry, so make sure to have a trustworthy staff and a process that prevents a violation of the trade secret.

Michael E. Melton has benefited from a distinguished career as an intellectual property attorney. He is currently a partner at Norris & Melton, P.L.L.C., in Washington, D.C. Atty. Melton has also been a lawyer and consultant at IP Counsel Consultants since 2002, where he provides advice to clients on the licensing, acquisition, and management of intellectual property assets and expert witness testimony. Read more articles covered by his practice on this page.

Some basic guidelines on trademark protection

A trademark is a slogan, symbol, logo, word, design, or a combination of these elements that identifies and distinguishes a company or an organization. Trademark laws protect an element from being copied or infringed or used generically without the company’s permission. Here are some basic guidelines on trademark protection that every organization needs to know.

Sources: iptechblog.com

Avoid commonly used symbols and trademarks. If you are on the process of distinguishing your trademark, do ample research about commonly used symbols in the industry where you belong to. You can either hire a team of creative that specializes in branding and identity.

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File a trademark application before commercial use. You can’t use your trademark until you have filed an application at the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office). You can choose to file on an intent-to-use basis, as long as you use the trademark in commerce in connection with your services or goods. Once you have proven this, the USPTO will grant you your Certificate of Registration.

Seek legal advice when your trademark has been infringed. It is best to hire an intellectual property lawyer or attorney to represent your case once you see that your trademark has been used. Gather the evidence of infringement to make your case stronger, and follow necessary steps that your lawyer will tell you.


Michael E. Melton is the Founder and President of MEM Enterprises Group, which owns, operates, and manages Taco Bell and Five Guys Burgers restaurants and commercial real estate. He began his professional career as a Patent Adviser to the U.S. Department of the Navy. Mr. Melton clerked for civil rights attorney Arthur A. Benson, II, and assisted the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on the Kansas City, Missouri school desegregation case during his years in law school. For more articles like this, visit this page.

Rising above childhood adversity and taking the road to success

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It is crucial for children to develop a sense of initiative and resiliency growing up, allowing them to overcome the many challenges that wait along the way.  Throughout history, many great and important figures have risen above dire circumstances like poverty and a lack of access to education.  These hardships are scars that come early, but those who truly overcome adversity look back on them and allow these scars to be their markers for success.

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All face adversity on their path to adulthood.  But the unspoiled child will be readier to develop resiliency; you should become role models to them and not lull them into thinking that life is easy.  The more children see that you are working hard to attain your goals and embracing adaptability, they will follow suit and adopt their drive and perseverance.  In other words, parents must double as mentors. 

Early experiences mold the child, and important values like charity, responsibility, and empathy should be inculcated early on.  The same goes with resourcefulness, which cannot be developed if everything is always easily or readily available. 

Conversely, while being born into a well-off family is not something people can control, you shouldn’t make children feel that the situation should make them better than others.  The sooner they realize that the world does not revolve around them, the faster they’d learn to be other-centered.  This need for selflessness, generosity, and kindness should be true of all children if they are being humbled as they reach for true success.

Michael Melton has been the subject of numerous print, TV, and radio articles detailing how someone can overcome a bad childhood and inferior education system to become a success in life. More on Michael’s various advocacies here. 

How to manage a restaurant efficiently

A restaurant is one of the toughest businesses you can open today.  It’s extremely competitive and location-dependent.  The number of repeat customers can eventually be the indicator of success. 

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But perhaps the most troublesome element of running a restaurant is logistics.  You are constantly re-stocking perishable goods and managing supplies.  To help you manage your restaurant efficiently, here are some tips:

If you haven’t opened your restaurant yet and are currently in the planning phase, make sure you optimize the layout of your business.  The kitchen should be proportional to the dining capacity of the restaurant.  If the kitchen area can’t keep up with the orders, meals will take longer to be prepared.  The floor space should also be wide enough for customers and wait staff to move freely.

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You should also employ efficient workers.  From people who restock the kitchen to kitchen assistants, a restaurant is an active business where there’s zero place for laziness.  You can check if they are efficient by checking their previous employment records for job experience in restaurants, and monitoring them at work.

Lastly, it’s not enough that employees are held accountable for mistakes.  Managers should be held accountable as well.  Whether it’s their inability to follow through in their chain of command or lack of initiative, managers are employees, too and need to be dealt with accordingly. 

Michael Melton is the co-founder of the Culturfied Foundation, a nonprofit that develops and conducts programs to expose children to the different cultures of the world. The organization works with embassies, the United Nations, and the local school systems. For more on Michael’s work and advocacies, go to this webpage.

The growing importance of intellectual property in the digital age

With digital innovation has come a variety of ways to protect intellectual property or IP; the challenge for current innovators is to ensure that they develop the most apt strategy to protect their inventions and labor. 

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It all begins with a keen understanding of copyright law.  Governments all over the world are finding ways to keep updated on various developments and disruptions created by the arrival of the internet and new technologies (like blockchain, for example).  These involve laws for radio, TV, video games, music, photography, books, sound recordings, and the like.

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Intellectual property is meant to fuel creative industries while curtailing any infringes on such rights.  In the U.S., courts are expected to come up with clear-cut statutory conditions amounting to the so-called “safe harbor” protection.  Additionally, service providers should themselves volunteer to implement such systems and act swiftly to take down any defined violation.

All in all, the success of intellectual property in the digital age will depend on establishing laws that continue to provide incentives for innovation and creativity while being flexible enough for amendments as new forms of disruptions arise.  Whether via patents, copyright, trademarks, authorship, or registered rights, IP can partner with licensing for enhancing the value of existing and future assets. 

Michael E. Melton has authored numerous published legal articles in the field of intellectual property, including the foreword for “Little Blues – How to Build a Culture of Intellectual Property Within a Small Technology Company.” For similar reads, visit this blog.