An Impossible Foods patent related to the inclusion of heme in imitation meat has been revoked by the European Patent Office (EPO), amid an escalating dispute between the company and Motif FoodWorks.
Boston-based Motif, which was founded in 2019 as a spin-off from Ginkgo Bioworks, challenged the EU patent, which addresses meat alternatives containing heme protein, sugars and sulphur compounds.
Motif argues that these ingredients are not patentable, as they have been used to enhance the taste and smell of meat and meat alternatives “for decades,” and says that it therefore agrees with the EPO’s decision finding the Impossible patent to be “obvious”.
“We agree with the European Patent Office’s ruling that Impossible’s patent is obvious and look at it as a win for the industry – and a sign of things to come,” said Michael Leonard, CEO of Motif FoodWorks.
Heme has been at the centre of a deepening legal dispute between the two companies in the US.
Impossible has described the protein as the “magic ingredient” in its burgers. The iron-containing molecule – which helps give animal meat its distinctive flavour and colour – is made by the company using a yeast genetically engineered with the gene for soy leghemoglobin.
At the end of last year, Motif announced the commercial launch of its own heme ingredient, Hemami, which is also produced via precision fermentation.
In March, Impossible began a lawsuit against Motif challenging the food tech firm’s use of heme to replicate the sensory characteristics of animal meat and to date accuses the company of infringing seven patents.
Motif asked the court to dismiss claims related to five patents covering imitation meat without any animal protein, on the basis that its ingredient, unlike Impossible’s, is molecularly identical to bovine myoglobin – a protein found in cows.
Last month, the motion was denied by US Circuit Judge William Bryson, who said that the patents may cover Hemami because it is produced using yeast and does not have any “direct animal provenance,” allowing Impossible to press ahead with the case.
Motif, meanwhile, filed a petition with the US patent office earlier this year to challenge the validity of one of Impossible’s patents. The food tech firm says that while the office “declined to review the patent in question on Motif’s first attempt, the company intends to continue challenging it at the patent office”.
As the two companies gear up for a patent infringement trial, Motif has announced the filing of four additional invalidity challenges to US patents held by Impossible, which it says share similarities with the EU patent that has been overturned.
Leonard said: “We will continue to fight Impossible’s aggressive actions to limit competition through every avenue available, including via the patent challenges we are announcing today”.
FoodBev Media has approached Impossible Foods for comment.
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