Intellectual property rights entitle the owner to keep its identity and uniqueness in the market from others, regardless of trademarkPatent, copyright, design, or a combination of anything.

Now the question arises for those housewives or cooks who made and invented new food recipes from existing raw materials in new ways, forms, shapes, colors, or any combination and how they save it from others.

in Patent Act, 1970 Food recipes may be protected if and only if they satisfy the following conditions to be granted patent protection. Patent Amendment Act, 2005 The Indian Patent Act 1970 introduced product patent protection for food, pharma and chemical inventions.

Food recipes cannot be copyrighted Since it only lists ingredients and one method; Similar to that idea, facts and history cannot be copyrighted. Yes, if the recipe is summarized in writing, it may be copyrighted as a literary work.

Key Criteria for Food Patent:

1) novelty –There should be an element of new and innovative methods in the recipe, not just an extension of the old method.

2) non-obviousness –The invention should be inventive and not just mixing raw materials that result in a clear recipe.

3) industrial application –The invention must be industrially applicable i.e. it must prove useful to mankind or animal or industrial level.

Process

The procedure for obtaining patent protection in India for food recipes is as follows:

1. Conducting a Pre-Art Search: The first and most important step in registering for a patent is to conduct a prior art search. In this step, we need to search the patent database as well as the non-patent literature to see if any patents have been filed in this area before.
2. Drafting a Patent Application: The second step is to format the patent application as per the rules mentioned in Form 1 Patent Act, 1970 Also known as a Patent Specification as well as Form 2. There are two types of specifications which are:
3. A) provisional specification: filed when the invention is not in its entirety
4. b) Full Specifications: It is filed when the invention is completely exhausted.

3. Publication of Patent: Once the application is filed after complete specification it is published in the official patent journal. It is published 18 months after applying. If one wishes to publish the application before 18 months, the applicant may make such request in Form 9 to publish it earlier.

4. Patent Application Scrutiny: After the patent is published in the Official Patent Journal; Inspected by the Patent Office to determine whether the claims made in the specification are qualified and Patent Act, 1970, The request for examination has to be made by the applicant itself after which the Patent Office will thoroughly examine the application. This request is made by filing Form 18 and if the applicant wishes to have the application examined first, such request may be made by filing Form 18(a). After reviewing the application, the first examination report is sent to the applicant mentioning the objections as to why the patent application is not fit to be granted as a patent. The applicant then files a counter-reply to the Patent Office’s examiner’s objections.

5. Grant of Patent: Once the examiner is satisfied with the counter-response to the objections raised by the applicant, the final patent is granted and an official patent certificate for that invention is granted.

Examples of a Patent on a Food Recipe

• Patent No. 192889 – A process for the preparation of deep-fat fried potato chips
• Patent No. 250544 – Improved Process for Manufacturing Tea
• Patent No. 257367 – Process for making baked potato slices with extended texture
• Patent No. 258480 – Method for making chocolate food products or ingredients

Therefore, while there are no ‘sure-shot’ legal safeguards for food dishes, they are often protected as trade secrets. If chefs choose to disclose these secrets, they ensure that they are protected by confidentiality agreements and non-disclosure agreements.

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