Can you Patent a Drink?

The food and beverage industry is thriving and people are continuously seeking to try new and different food and beverages. Culinary experts are coming up with innovative recipes and techniques to satisfy this ever rising demand. If you create a drink that no one has ever come across, you may want to protect the recipe to gain maximum returns. Inventors choose patents to protect their inventions. Be it a scientific innovation or a business method, patents are the best way of protecting your invention. And why not? It provides the owner monopoly of 20 years over the invention. But one of the most common questions asked is can you patent a drink recipe?

In order to qualify for a patent, the concoction must be novel, inventive and useful. Patents are granted for any novel, non-obvious and useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter or any new improvement on these. This definitely can include drinks, but you will want to consider whether or not your drink recipe is patentable.

Is the Recipe Patentable Subject Matter?

A drink recipe will have ingredients, the process of mixing it and the final product resulting from it. Ingredients can fall under the head composition of matter or manufacture. The way you can combine the ingredients for the drink can fall under the process. This makes it a patentable subject.

Novelty, Inventive, and Functional

While you are sure your recipe will be functional in the market, it also needs to be novel and non-obvious or inventive. This is where patenting a recipe gets tricky. This means that your recipe must have no prior proof of existence and must not be an obvious invention, or obvious improvement or alteration over a known recipe. You will not be able to obtain a patent if your recipe is found in the prior art. Even if your recipe is different to any previously known recipes, you can face rejection simply because your recipe can be deemed as too similar. Your recipe and the aspects related to it must pass the novelty and inventive test for obtaining a patent.

The fact that people have been combining a variety of ingredients to produce different types of beverages for decades makes it difficult to abide by the novelty and inventive principle for patents. Nowadays, you can find a variety of beverages that are more likely to have been created in a laboratory rather than on a kitchen counter. These processes are unique and non-obvious allowing you to patent your invention. If you are able to demonstrate that your invention or the aspects relating to your invention are counter-intuitive, you can increase your chances of obtaining a patent. If the combination is not obvious, or the process is entirely unique, you may be able to obtain a patent for your drink recipe.

Other Options

While a patent may be a viable option for protecting your drink recipe, another option is to maintain your recipe as a trade secret. This is commonly used in the food industry as a means of protecting a recipe. The recipe for making Coca-Cola is not protected by a patent but is protected as a trade secret. This is also true for KFC's blend of secret spices.

While it is not easy, it may be possible to patent a drink recipe. Patents are a complex subject that can be difficult to understand by a common man. Applying for patents also requires in-depth research and compliance. It is best to obtain assistance from a patent agent while applying for patents to avoid any glitches.