|
Hi Ray http://www.nevadainventors.org… It's hard to get a patent for a recipe, but it can be done. To be given a patent, a recipe must be significantly different from other on the market.If you patent a recipe it is necessary to publish it when the patent is issued. So because it is a recipe, when it is patented it is no longer private property. It is published for the public to see. Now in order to police the protection of your patent you would have to stop anyone and everyone from making, using, selling or copying your recipe.It seems like an impossible task. So you keep your recipe secret as long as you can, and protect your product with a trademark and your recipe with a copyright. Both are inexpensive methods of claiming proprietary rights. To start the trademark protection, just put a small "TM" in superscript behind the name or logo that you wish to trademark. And make sure that mark appears everytine the name or logo appears. Then when you sell the product in interstate commerce you can apply for a registered trademark with Patent and Trademark office. In brief know that if your recipe isn't individual enough to be patentable, you can still protect your recipe by keeping it a trade secret. Trade secrets benefit a business commercially and are not known to anyone outside the business. To protect your trade secret, keep the number of employees and others who know it to a minimum. Whether you get a patent or not, it's a good idea to protect your product name by registering for a trademark. Trademark rights can be used to prevent others from using a similar mark on their products, but they do not prevent others from making the same goods or selling the same goods under another mark. According to Pressman, you can obtain limited trademark protection by simply putting the superscript "TM" symbol after your product name or logo and relying on your common-law rights. --Business Start-Ups magazine, February 1999
(Rated by 4 Council Members)
|
