Intellectual Property
According to the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, intellectual property includes rights relating to:
◾️ literature, art and scientific works;
◾️ Inventions in all fields of human activity;
◾️ scientific discoveries;
◾️ industrial samples;
◾️ trademarks, service marks, brand names and commercial designations;
◾️ Prevention of Unfair Commerce and All Other Rights.
Two areas are traditionally distinguished from the open list:
Industrial property rights: inventions, industrial designs, trademarks and geographical indications.
Copyright: includes scientific works, works of literature and art, architecture, photographs, music, etc. Intellectual labor products, such as computer programs and electronic databases, are also subject to copyright protection.
Today, the food industry is not only interested in knowing what the consumer consumes, or how to prepare this or that food product, it is also necessary to know the data and technologies related to food. The intellectual property law is the only way to prevent the appropriation of said property by others.
Intellectual property protection in the food industry covers everything from ingredient production and recipe development to end product labeling, marketing and branding.
There are 2 ways to protect intellectual property:
Technical protection: includes patent, design, geographical indication, trade secret.
Creative protection: includes trademark and copyright.
Patent - an exclusive right granted to the owner of a technical invention. The patent owner is granted the right to assign his patent to another person who wants to benefit from the invention by duplicating it, for a fee.
The concept of food patenting is a relatively new phenomenon. Patents in the food sector cover a wide range, from the composition of the food to the process of making the food. It is possible to patent new ingredients, new products, packaging, production methods and new applications. Innovation in the food industry is often the result of new ingredients and products that can be patented. In order to register, a food business should look for example for packaging that provides a storage advantage, or in a modern way improves its delivery to the consumer and includes an inventive step during production.
Trademark (brand) - a word, logo or symbol, which the predecessor companies are not allowed to use after the registration of the mark. More specifically, a trademark is a symbol or set of symbols that is represented graphically and distinguishes the goods or services of one enterprise from the goods or services of another enterprise. Branding is important in the food industry. It helps the customer to choose the food according to his desire.
Copyright - Gives creators the right to receive recognition, compensation, and protection for the property they create.
Design - the external appearance of the product, e.g. Bottle or package shape, chocolate bar shape. The design protects the overall look of the product. In the food industry, the design can be on the packaging (eg a bottle or whole package) or on the shape of the product (eg a chocolate bar). Design protection ensures that other companies do not use similar containers or packaging. Another important fact is that the design should be new and individual. Only in this case it is subject to protection.
Geographical Indication - A geographical location associated with a product, which guarantees that a particular product is produced in a particular place, in some cases based on traditional recipes and practices.
Trade secret - This is "know-how" and important commercial information that is kept confidential because this information gives the company a competitive advantage over other companies. A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, or collection of information that is not generally known and is used to protect recipes. Although trade secrets play an important role in the food industry, today it is very difficult to keep it a secret, with new technologies and inventions it is possible for a good chemist to decipher the ingredients through various analyzes and tests. Unfortunately, trade secrets offer weak protection in the food industry.
