A healthy digestive system is critical to well-being. Innovators and brand owners have recognized consumers are looking for new products that improve digestive function. Therefore, they have developed formulations and protected trademarks that address this large market.

Due to the variety of available ingredients and the diversity of consumer diets and digestive needs, innovation is continually needed in digestive health products. Innovative companies can tailor their products with new ingredients or new combinations of known ingredients that provide improved health benefits. The most popular subject matter for patented innovations includes modified food products, formulations, foodstuffs and beverages that involve combinations of materials. Other targets for patents include new active and functional ingredients, as well as new plant-derived ingredients.

While there have been many patents filed related to digestive health supplements, no assignees appear to dominate the market.

Trademarks are defined not only by the trademarked term, but also by the goods and services listed in the application. The U.S. Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) grants a limited right to a brand owner for the exclusive use of a term with products that are actually used in commerce. Over the last five years, the number of trademark filings that incorporate “digestive," or some variation thereof, into the list of goods and services in nutritional supplements has increased.

Learn more about intellectual property trends in the digestive health category by downloading Answering the call for digestive health solutions – digital magazine.

Attorney Andreas Baltatzis is a director at KramerAmado PC, a boutique law firm specializing in intellectual property (IP). He represents a number of innovative nutritional supplement and nutraceutical companies that improve people’s lives every day. Baltatzis also helps companies prepare and implement IP strategies by obtaining patents and trademarks that protect their innovations and cash flow, as well as advising clients on successfully launching new products and brands.

Gideon Eckhouse is a senior associate at KramerAmado, with more than 10 years of experience in patents and trademarks. He assists innovative nutritional supplement and nutraceutical companies in protecting their IP throughout the world. Eckhouse counsels and implements global trademark strategies for new brand launches. Additionally, he prepares and prosecutes patent portfolios protecting new products coming to market.