MOTIF FOODWORKS, INC. v. IMPOSSIBLE FOODS, INC.
The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has largely rejected food technology company Motif Food Works’ calls for the board to look into multiple meat-substitute patents held by rival Impossible Foods, Inc., finding that Motif failed to show a “likelihood of prevailing” on contentions that U.S. Patent Nos. 11,224,241 B2; 11,013,250 B2 and 10,039,306 B2 are invalid as obvious based on prior art. The three-judge panel issued four separate decisions, refusing to institute reviews of three out of four patents owned by Impossible Foods. The PTAB decisions come after the European Patent Office revoked one of Impossible Foods’ European Union patents in December 2022 on the basis that heme protein, sugars, and sulfur compounds that have been used to evoke the taste and smell of meat in meat alternatives for decades are not patentable.
[To accompany Case Law Update "U.S. Patent and Trial Appeal Board Rules in Favor of Impossible Foods in Patent Challenge Brought by Rival Motif Food Works” from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 195]