On Wednesday, Impossible Foods, Inc. filed a patent infringement suit against Motif Foodworks, Inc. in the District of Delaware.
Impossible Foods said it distributes plant based meat products, including the Impossible Burger, Impossible Sausage and Impossible Meatball. Plaintiff’s allegations detail its research efforts to create its products, including identification of the biological molecule, that “ … make[s] meat look, cook and taste the way it does.” According to the plaitniff, that molecule, heme, is part of soy leghemoglobin LegH, a molecule which “…occurs naturally in the root nodules of soy plants…”. Because growing and harvesting soy was too “inefficient for commercial purposes,” Plaintiff alleges that it “developed a proprietary strain of genetically modified Pichia yeast that produces LegH through a fermentation process.”
Plaintiff alleges that it “…has applied for, and has been awarded, patents regarding many elements and aspects of the manufacturing and composition of heme-containing meat products.” In this action, plaintiff seeks injunctive and monetary relief, including treble damages, against Defendant, a competitor in the plant based meat substitute market, for alleged infringement of the patent titled “Methods and Compositions for Consumables.”
Plaintiff’s counsel is Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.
