Posts Tagged: "food items"

The Hamdog is only one of many unusual U.S. patents covering bizarre foods

There are few foods which are more iconically American than hot dogs and hamburgers. The idea to mix the two together, however, comes from an Australian innovator who is hoping for a windfall by auctioning off a U.S. patent which protects a food preparation which is truly unique. Mark Murray of Perth, Australia, is the inventor of the Hamdog, a combination hot-dog-and-hamburger entree that uses a bun, which is specifically designed to hold both the hamburger and the hot dog. Murray’s inspiration came to him while visiting Nashville, TN, when he left a bar and tried to eat a hamburger and a hot dog at the same time to assuage his hunger; once again, necessity is the mother of invention. Murray has sought to auction the U.S. rights to his invention, which is sold at Australian sports events for $6 USD, and the inventor believes that the Hamdog could be a product which rakes in $2.5 billion-per-year if it captures 1 percent of the United States’ burger market, which includes some 50 billion hamburgers sold each year.

Steve Brachmann

November 12, 2016

The Evolution of Food Safety: HOF Inventors John Silliker and Welton Taylor tamed Salmonella

The 2016 inductee class for the National Inventors Hall of Fame includes two microbiologists whose contributions to the field of food safety have helped to keep many foodborne pathogens, especially Salmonella, in check: John H. Silliker and Welton I. Taylor. These two scientists worked together to develop more effective monitoring techniques for food products in response to the growing concerns in the mid-20th century regarding Salmonella outbreaks, especially those which hit children the hardest. With the anniversaries for important patents issued to both of these food safety engineers having passed in early March, we thought we’d visit their scientific contributions from in our Evolution of Technology series here on IPWatchdog.

Steve Brachmann

March 5, 2016

Food production and preventative probiotics dominate at DuPont

DuPont is focused on a wide array of innovative technologies, many of which aren’t forefront in the consciousness of many people and publications following innovation. Currently, the company is accepting entries for its 2015 DuPont Packaging Awards, which the corporation boasts is the longest-running awards ceremony in that industry since its inception in 1986. As we’ll see below, DuPont is also invested in developing its own packaging solutions. Recent innovations in DuPont’s Kevlar products for sporting equipment should receive more attention with the company’s decision to sponsor the January 2015 X Games Aspen. DuPont also maintains a particular focus on plant science and recent developments have increased the offerings of DuPont Pioneer’s EncircaSM Yield Nitrogen Management Service, which helps corn and soybean growers by providing planting prescriptions for field management.

Steve Brachmann

February 2, 2015

Food for a Super Bowl Party, IP Style

I decided to reach out to John Mola, who runs the PLI San Francisco Conference Center and is in charge of virtually all the PLI patent programs. John is a foodee, and in his spare time is the purveyor of Gianni’s North Beach, which is a wonderful website and blog dedicated to Italian cuisine, particularly the restaurants in San Francisco’s North Beach. But I couldn’t show favoritism in the post, so I needed a Baltimore counter-balance. So I reached out to Barry Herman, who is in the Baltimore, Maryland offices of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP, and who recently co-authored Predicting Patentability in the Unpredictable Arts. His assistant, Angela Whaples, is a die-hard Ravens’ fan, and she came up with something that screams Baltimore!

Gene Quinn

February 2, 2013

The Law of Recipes: Are Recipes Patentable?

In most cases the typical recipe for a “killer Margarita” or “the best barbeque sauce ever” will not be patentable, but the only way to know for sure is to understand how the Patent Office reaches its conclusions relating to what can and cannot be patented. It is possible to obtain a patent on a recipe or food item if there is a unique aspect to the recipe, there is something counter-intuitive or a problem (such as self live or freshness) is being addressed. The trick will be identifying a uniqueness that is not something one would typically think to try.

Gene Quinn

February 10, 2012