Consumer Products &

Food Technology

A wealth of chemical innovation – and accompanying intellectual property – underlies many of the products in the average fridge, kitchen cupboard, or bathroom cabinet.

Patentable developments in these sectors include developments relating to flavours, fragrances, and formulations, to name but a few, as well as improvements in manufacturing processes. Current key drivers of innovation in these sectors include an increased focus on health, wellness, and ‘clean living’ and the crucial importance of ‘green’ technology to ensure a sustainable future.

These markets are often very crowded. Innovation may not always seem ‘revolutionary’ in nature but rather occurs incrementally, as a series of small improvements. With careful drafting, however, commercially valuable IP protection can still be obtained, even for modest-seeming enhancements to an existing product.

In these high-value and competitive sectors, it is important for companies to navigate carefully the challenges of protecting their own innovation while avoiding pitfalls associated with competitors’ IP. Our specialist team of chemistry patent attorneys has the expertise and experience to help address these challenges.

The team has substantial experience of obtaining, defending and advising on patents in the consumer products and food and beverage sectors. We have considerable expertise in opposition & appeals before the European Patent Office, both defending patents granted to our clients and opposing patents granted to our clients’ competitors. We can advise on competitors’ IP and on how to mitigate any associated risks.

Our patent attorneys work closely with our specialist legal team who are well placed to advise on utilising trade secrets and know-how, as well as on negotiations, contracts and litigation in this sector.

Find out more about protecting your innovations

Pink-Pentagons-HQ

Food, Beverage & Flavours

Pink-Pentagons-HQ

Homecare, Personal Care & Hygiene

Open pages of Green IP Report

Green IP Report

Patents are both a driver and a barometer of innovation

Our report examines the role of patents in making innovative ‘green’ technologies into a reality as well as how the patent landscape can be used to identify opportunities for partnering, collaboration and investment.

We share our enthusiasm and admiration for commercially-focused innovation across a diverse range of technologies, from repurposing carbon dioxide to make protein-rich foods, to the multi-faceted approach to a circular plastics economy. We also discuss the tantalising prospect of AI-mediated renewable energy supply, and the harnessing of battery tech from the EV boom to drive energy efficiency in consumer devices. This report reflects our passion for technology solutions that tackle our shared global challenge.

Read our latest blogs

A new horizon for quantum research in the UK or merely a shiny rebrand for an incoming government?

A new horizon for quantum research in the UK or merely a shiny rebrand for an incoming government?

by Amelia Sloan

The levels of investment in quantum technologies are changing rapidly all the time. In 2022, venture capital investments in quantum startups was more than $2.2 billion, dropping to just $1.2 billion ...

Mewburn Ellis – sustainability and the road to net zero

Mewburn Ellis – sustainability and the road to net zero

by Eleanor Maciver

Sustainability Champion Eleanor Maciver explains her masterplan for Mewburn Ellis. Forward: features are independent pieces written for Mewburn Ellis discussing and celebrating the best of innovation ...

Mewburn Ellis: top tier firm Legal 500 2025

Mewburn Ellis: top tier firm Legal 500 2025

by Joanna Smith

We are extremely proud to once again be ranked tier one for our patent and trade mark practices in the 2025 edition of The Legal 500. Our congratulations to Graeme Moore for being recognised as a ...

We work at every stage of the IP lifecycle

Protect

Drafting, Filing & Prosecution
Portfolio Management
Searching & Watching
Renewals & EP Validations

Defend

Pre-action Advice
Oppositions & Appeals
Litigation
Alternative Dispute Resolution

Exploit

Strategic Advice
Commercial Issues
Transactions
Corporate Support

Forward Magazines Overlapping 8

Mewburn Ellis

FORWARD MAGAZINE

Mewburn Ellis Forward is a biannual publication that celebrates the best of innovation and exploration. Through its pages we hope to inform and entertain, but also to encourage discussion about the most compelling developments taking place in the scientific and entrepreneurial world. Along the way, we’ll engage with the IP challenges that international organisations face every day.