Media Coverage
Source: Wines & Vines
Media Coverage
10.28.14
The Seminar Group recently hosted “IP Issues in the Food and Beverage Industries,” a two-day event in Napa, Calif., where those in the wine industry gathered to learn strategies for protecting their businesses’ intellectual property. IP issues can be especially complex in the food and beverage industry, since trademark and patent laws are only part of the equation—business also must consider both industry- and state-specific regulations.
Pillsbury IP Partner John Wetherell spoke about the often complicated patent process and explained that the purpose of a patent is to give an inventor the right to prevent others from using their process or invention during the period the patent is in effect. The idea is that patents provide a barrier for competitors and thereby promote investment, but then society as a whole benefits from free access to the idea once the patent period has expired, Wetherell said.
"Most patents these days are for improvement on existing patents,” he said.
IP counsel Robert Burlingame served as co-chair of the event and also gave a presentation discussing the importance of trademarks. He explained that the purpose of a trademark is that it “guarantees a level of quality” for consumer protection. Burlingame described the steps required to register a trademark and emphasized the importance of starting the process with an extensive search of existing marks and analyzing the results for similarities.
“There are so many similar marks that even small differences are sufficient to co-exist,” he said.