Health Functional Food Patents

A patent is a legal tool that protects technology superior to what came before, while providing a foundation for further technological progress.

For that reason, an invention must not be the same as existing technology (novelty) and must be more effective than existing technology (inventive step). The specification must also be written clearly and in detail so that third parties can build on it (enablement and written description).

These principles apply equally to health functional foods. To be patented, a health functional food must differ from existing health functional foods or medicines (novelty) and be more effective (inventive step).

A health functional food is a food manufactured or processed using ingredients with functions useful to the human body. Because of this, patents for health functional foods follow principles similar to those for medicines and pharmaceutical compositions. A health functional food is made up of two technical elements: its ingredients and the efficacy they produce.

Novelty is recognized when either the ingredients or the efficacy differ from known health functional foods or medicines. If they are similar, whether inventive step is recognized depends on how much the ingredients or efficacy differ from what is known.

Establishing inventive step is usually the biggest hurdle, and how you prove the difference from existing technology is what matters most.

If you are preparing a health food patent, INCUBE Patent & Law Firm will help you secure your rights with the best strategy.