On-the-Go Nutrition Intellectual Property

On-the-go food options traditionally conjure images of fast food, or unhealthy sugar- and salt-loaded snacks. However, health-conscious consumers are looking for more-nutritious meal and snack options for their busy schedules. Fortunately, innovative companies have met this need with a variety of food products, including healthy snacks, bars and drinks. With an increasing focus on wholesome foods and clean label ingredients, the challenge is to provide good-tasting nutrition that is packaged for use on the go.

Manufacturers and retailers in the on-the-go nutrition field want to be sure they have trademarks that cover their products.

Beverage products experienced an increase in patent filings for nonfruit beverages, with a corresponding decrease in protein drinks filings since 2012. The patent filings for food products indicate a relatively constant level of applications after a relative peak of filings from 2005 to 2008. This may indicate a move away from processed food products.

Some of the most common on-the-go products include meal bars and snacks. Liquid shots, such as energy shots, are also important for consumers who want nutritional products that fit their active lifestyles.

Snacks and bars are mentioned at least 25 times more often than shots in U.S. trademarks every year. The trend for snacks, bars and shots seems to continue for 2018, with mentions in trademark goods 839, 753 and 29 times, respectively, in the first quarter of 2018. These trends have also been consistent during the last five years.

Learn more about intellectual property (IP) trends in portable nutrition products (with charts!), in INSIDER’s On-the-Go Nutrition Digital Magazine.

Attorney Andreas Baltatzis is a director at KramerAmado PC, a boutique law firm specializing in intellectual property (IP). He represents a number of innovative nutritional supplement and nutraceutical companies that improve people’s lives every day. Baltatzis also helps companies prepare and implement IP strategies by obtaining patents and trademarks that protect their innovations and cash flow, as well as advising clients on successfully launching new products and brands.

Gideon Eckhouse is a senior associate at KramerAmado, with more than 10 years of experience in patents and trademarks. He assists innovative nutritional supplement and nutraceutical companies in protecting their IP throughout the world. Eckhouse counsels and implements global trademark strategies for new brand launches. Additionally, he prepares and prosecutes patent portfolios protecting new products coming to market.