How to Patent a Recipe
Recipes can receive a patent. However, there are several steps that must be taken to determine whether the recipe is a patentable item. A recipe would be considered an invention and would have to fit the same criteria that an invention must meet to gain a patent. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Write out your recipe with all the vital details, including how much of each ingredient is needed, how long it will take for the recipe to be prepared and what you believe makes the recipe unique enough for a patent. A patent will only be granted if the recipe is completely original. If the recipe is not unique and original, then it is possible that it is already a patented idea.
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Research your recipe online and offline before attempting to get a patent on it. If the idea is already a patented idea, you will be wasting time and money on an idea that will not get a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Research should consists of cookbooks over the past 20 years, an Internet search of the recipe idea and the list of registered patents on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website (see Resources). Patents expire after 20 years unless they are renewed.
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Determine what type of patent the recipe will need. The most basic patent is the Utility Patent, which may be granted to anyone who has invented or discovered a new process, machine, article of manufacture or composition of matters. A patent grants the patent holder "the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling" the invention in the United States. Other patents include the Design Patent and the Plant Patent. If you wish to prepare your recipe and have it boxed, you may have to apply for a Design Patent along with a Utility Patent.
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Consult with a patent attorney. An attorney who is familiar with patent laws, trademark laws and copyright laws can help you prepare your patent application and in understanding the legal terminology of the patent application. A patent attorney will be responsible for filing the patent application with the correct federal office and can tell you whether your idea is patentable. There may be a retainer fee for a patent attorney of approximately $500 to $1,000.
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Fill out the patent application with your patent attorney. Make a copy of the application and a copy of the recipe idea that you are attempting to obtain a patent for. Pay the application fee and send in your patent application request. It can take up to a year for a patent to be issued or denied for your recipe. Be patient during this time period and keep your recipe secret, preventing others from stealing your idea and getting a patent on the recipe you want a patent for.
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Tips & Warnings
Patent fees and attorney fees can become costly, so make sure you have enough capital before beginning the patent process.
References
Resources
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Comments
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research for tex-mex ideas for last 20yrs.
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@Sajid...this was very helpful information. Thank you so much.
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This is probably the worst advice about obtaining a patent...first off, there is no such thing as "renewing" a patent. Once the term is expired, anyone can make or use the invention. Secondly, you need to do a prior art search not just over the last twenty years, but basically as far back as possible. The point of a patent is to disclose a NEW invention...so if the invention has been disclosed before, even if the patent term is expired, you can't simply re-patent it, because the invention is no longer new. Patenting recipies is probably the stupidest and most pointless waste of time and money ever. Even if you overcome the issue of obviousness (which is extraordinarily unlikley), a patent on a recipe does literally nothing for you. For example, lets say your recipe consists of 1 tsp of sugar. Anyone can easily avoid infringment by using 1.1 tsp of sugar, so you've just wasted thousands of dollars seeking protection from a recipe that you can't possibly enforce infringment on. If you really think you have a million dollar recipe, you need to keep it a trade secret and sell the product yourself. You will never see a patent on Coca-cola because it's much more valuable as a secret than it is a patent.
