Trademark Applications by Foodtech-Related Companies

In this issue, we would like to change things up a bit and look at a trademark application by a major U.S. food tech company, although it will be brief.

The companies featured in this issue will be Perfect Day and Impossible Foods.

1. Perfect Day

The CA-based company that developed the first non-animal derived milk protein is now partnering with retail brands and foodservice manufacturers to bring a variety of products to the market. According to its home page, a number of partnership products have been launched, including

• Bored Cow (children’s milk, etc.)
• Brave Robot (next generation ice cream)
• California Performance Co.(protein for sport)

For the U.S. trademark this time, we used JUSTIA Trademarks, and the search was done simply by entering the company name in the Owner field.

Twenty-one items were extracted, including “PERFECT DAY” and “CHANGE THE PROCESS. We had the impression that the application was focused on things that we usually see when we pick up Perfect Day products, such as slogan-like items like “CHANGE THE PROCESS. NOT THE FOOD.“

As for the “VERY DAIRY” combined with the heart logo, a separate search of international registrations through the Madrid Monitor showed that it is struggling in Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.

2. Impossible Foods

Impossible Foods is a Redwood City, CA-based company that researches and develops plant-based meat and dairy products, including a well-known alternative meat product, the Impossible Burger.

As with Perfect Day above, JUSTIA Trademarks was used, and searches were conducted by entering the company name in Owner.

We extracted 73 items, ranging from “IMPOSSIBLE,” which was also the exact word, to “IMPOSSIBLE” in a balloon from logos such as cow, pig, and chicken (although these had been given abandoned status in the U.S.*), “IMPOSSIBLE BURGER,” “IMPOSSIBLE CHEESESTEAK,” “IMPOSSIBLE CHICKEN NUGGETS,” and so on. IMPOSSIBLE BURGER”, “IMPOSSIBLE CHEESESTEAK”, “IMPOSSIBLE CHICKEN NUGGETS”, or “IMPOSSIBLE” on a green and white background. I got the impression that the application was mainly for items that are usually seen when you pick up Impossible Foods’ products.

We also searched the Madrid Monitor for international registrations here, and found that they were actively filing in various countries.

In Japan, we found various trademark registrations for a combination of an animal logo and the word “IMPOSSIBLE” in a speech balloon, as shown in the link below. In addition, we found 14 registered and pending trademark registrations on j-platpat under the company name “Impossible Foods Incorporated”.

j-platpat www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp

Perhaps this is because there is a difference between the U.S. and Japan in that the U.S. is “Principle of Use”, whereas Japan is “Principle of Registration”.

Since food products are a particularly B-to-C business to be aware of, we took a look at the trademarks of two major U.S. companies and found that they are still aggressively filing trademark applications, including worldwide.