Intellectual property refers to the collective term for patent rights (invention rights), trademark rights, copyrights (copyrights), trade name rights, trade secret rights (including technical secrets), discovery rights, etc. People usually focus on are patent rights and trademark rights. Nowadays, some hotels grandly launch signs with "special operations, patented dishes" and mark the patent number in a conspicuous position. This novel business method attracts diners from all directions, and the "patented dishes" often become the first choice for citizens to have dinner parties. So, patented dishes are not equal to special dishes? Can special dishes be patented? Are "patented dishes" really unique? According to my country's patent law, whether an invention can be granted a patent right must possess three characteristics: novelty, creativity and practicality. Novelty means that before the filing date, the same technical content has not been recorded in domestic or foreign publications, has been publicly used domestically, or has become known to the public in other ways, nor has the same invention or utility model been patented by others. The application has been filed by the Office and recorded in the patent application documents published after the filing date. Creativity means that the invention has outstanding substantive features and significant progress compared with the existing technology before the filing date. Practicality means that the subject matter of an invention patent or utility model patent application must be able to be manufactured or used in industry and produce positive effects. When reviewing a patent application for practicality, one of the most important review indicators is to determine whether the patent content is reproducible. The so-called reproducibility means that a skilled person in the technical field can repeatedly implement the technical solution adopted to solve the technical problem in the patent application based on the disclosed technical content. After clarifying the three characteristics of patents, let's analyze the issue of whether new dishes developed by catering companies can apply for patents. For certain dishes, such as finished dishes that can be industrially produced, the formulas, production, and processes have been programmed and do not rely on any random factors in production. Therefore, patents can be applied for and authorized. General dishes cooked in restaurants mainly rely on random factors such as the chef's personal cooking skills, so it is difficult to obtain patent authorization. In other words, "patented dishes" should be dishes that can be processed in a standardized manner using modern processing equipment, while "special dishes" rely on the cooking skills of professional chefs. The research and development of an innovative dish must have its patentability characteristics. It mainly depends on how the patent lawyer (patent document writer) digs out and uses words to express its patentability in order to obtain patent rights. The most basic requirements for those who write catering patent application documents are: they must have rigorous scientific thinking, rigorous legal thinking, good image thinking and written expression skills. Before a new dish is developed and put on the market, managers should choose and evaluate its intellectual property protection strategy. Any content that must be used for cultural promotion of the raw materials and cooking techniques of the dish should be protected in the form of patents; if it is for the taste The recipes of dishes and seasonings that have an impact should be protected as technical secrets. The possibility of patent authorization for cooking recipes is quite high, especially when two or more cooking ingredients are combined. As long as the combination has the novelty and creativity of the patent, the reproducibility review standard for practicality is also low; as for novelty, Before applying for a patent, a patent lawyer can basically determine whether it is novel after conducting a novelty search on his own or entrusting a professional information search agency to analyze it. If there is novelty, you can consider applying for a patent. If not, it can only be protected in the form of technical secrets. Inventiveness issues mainly rely on the document writer to explore and express the beneficial effects of the technology, and the subjective factor is relatively large. Therefore, the possibility of granting a cooking recipe patent is quite high and is mainly affected by the quality of the patent application documents. Regarding the issue of whether cooking techniques can be patented, in recent years, infringement disputes have emerged one after another in the catering industry. At present, our country's laws do not have clear regulations on the protection of cooking techniques in the catering industry. Because the recipes are not very practical, the dishes made by chefs using the same cooking method taste different. Therefore, it is difficult to apply for patent protection for cooking processes.
Therefore, the cooking process is best protected by trade secrets or technical methods. After weighing the pros and cons, if you feel that it is still necessary to apply for a patent for the cooking process, you should entrust a patent attorney with a high level of document writing to write the document. It is best to have a patent attorney who can Participate in the entire process. If you invent a technology other than recipes in the cooking process, after applying for a patent, the chance of obtaining authorization is very high. For example, if you invent an unprecedented heat source material for cooking food, as long as it meets the three characteristics of a patent, its reproducibility in practicality will not be an obstacle to obtaining patent authorization, then there will be no problem in obtaining patent authorization. If a cooking method requires the use of special utensils, you can apply for a patent for the utensils used. The best way to do this is to first apply for a utility model patent for the utensils used and apply for an invention patent at the same time. The biggest advantage of this operation is that the time from application to authorization for a utility model patent generally does not exceed one year, and patent authorization can be obtained quickly, which is an advantage in early rights protection. When the invention patent is granted, you can declare to the State Intellectual Property Office that you have given up the previous utility model patent rights. This method is especially important when matching tableware and changing utensils to create innovative dishes, because the judicial protection of product patents is absolute, while the judicial protection of method patents is relative. Patent and trademark protection for the production methods and raw materials of catering ingredients is also one of the important ways to protect intellectual property rights in the catering industry, and it is much less difficult to apply for intellectual property protection in this form than to apply for patent authorization for dishes. For example, someone has now invented a method of raising broiler chickens. The biggest feature of this kind of broiler chickens is that certain Chinese patent medicines are added during the feeding process. The principles of pharmacokinetics are used to make the chickens raised by this patented method have The medicinal effect of this Chinese patent medicine is especially beneficial for the treatment of gynecological diseases. If a catering company is authorized to have an exclusive monopoly on the production and sales of this patented chicken, it will have a good value-added effect on the brand effect of the catering company, and it can make its own unique signature dishes. In summary, when a catering company applies for patented technology for dishes, it can not only effectively protect the processing technology of the product, but also effectively protect the market, thereby effectively protecting the corporate brand and future development space. As for the possibility of authorization, it has a lot to do with the application method.