These Alt Meat Companies are Suing Each Other Over Intellectual Property

Meati Foods and The Better Meat Co., two fungi-based alt meat companies, are embroiled in a legal battle over their alt meat intellectual property (IP). Meati has accused Better Meat of stealing its mycelium harvesting tech, while Better Meat has accused Meati of damaging its reputation and fundraising efforts in a separate lawsuit.

Founded in 2015, Colorado-based Meati claims that a former employee, Augustus H. Pattillo, went to work for California’s Better Meat, founded in 2018, taking a proprietary mycelium-meat fermentation technique with him. On the other hand, Better Meat is accusing Meati of undermining its IP in order to ruin its fundraising efforts.

Taking it to Trial

Although neither company has submitted its mycelium techniques for FDA approval, the dispute has now been taken to court with two separate lawsuits. The first concerns Better Meat’s attempt to gain ownership of the IP, while the second is Meati’s claims to the same, with both companies accusing the other of misappropriation and underhand behavior.

Meati was first made aware of a potential IP infringement after a US patent was granted to Better for fermentation methodologies, using mycelium — the vegetative part of a fungus — to make meat alternatives. Pattillo, the former Meati employee, was named as the ‘inventor’ of the fermentation technique, leading to Meati’s lawyers initiating an accusation of IP theft.

Related: Nature’s Fynd: The Billionaire-Backed Alt Meat Derived from a Volcanic Microbe

According to evidence that has been submitted, Pattillo was aware of and actively engaged in the development of mycelium harvesting, with a view to future food developments. Meati co-founders Dr. Tyler Huggins and Dr. Justin Whitely claim that the patent includes confidential research information that could have only been gathered while working for Meati.

In response to the accusations, Better Meat has claimed that no evidence has been supplied and that Meati is simply attempting to “bully” a less-funded rival to maintain a monopoly of the fungi-based alt meat sector. Better Meat asserts that Meati would have filed its own patent had it invented or been developing mycelium as a meat replacement.

While both cases are ongoing, Better Meat told FoodNavigator-USA regarding the case, that it “filed suit because we won’t stand by idly while a company with no patents spreads fiction in an effort to take our patents and slow our growth into the marketplace.” Meati responded by telling the outlet, “While we value fair competition, theft is unacceptable and it is crucial Meati do what is required to protect its hard work, employees, investors and the integrity of the entire alternative protein industry.”

Other Rivaling Alt Meat Companies

The court action is reminiscent of an ongoing lawsuit between Impossible Foods and Motif Foodworks over alleged copying of alt protein food technology. Impossible has filed a lawsuit accusing Motif of IP infringement, connected to its patented ‘heme’ ingredient. At the same time, Impossible is seeking damages and injunctive relief.

The lawsuit states that Motif’s development and commercialization of HEMAMI — which combines the words ‘heme’ and ‘umami’ — infringes Impossible Foods’ patent, obtained in 2020, by using the iron-bearing protein molecule heme and making it available for large-scale distribution. Heme is a soy leghemoglobin additive that gives Impossible Foods’ alt meats their authentic taste and smell and allows them to ‘bleed.’ Impossible claims that this gives its products a unique selling point and has helped in carving out its niche in the alt meat sector. 

A Motif spokesperson stated that the lawsuit was “nothing more than a baseless attempt by Impossible Foods to stifle competition” and vowed to fight the claims, as reported by Reuters.