Food Lawyers: Specialized Legal Services for the Food Industry

Providing specialized knowledge and experience for companies in the food industry.

FOOD & BEVERAGE LAWYERS

Our Food Lawyers have been active participants in the formation, development, and progression of many truly exciting and extraordinary Food Startups. We work with high-growth, innovative consumer products startups in the food space. The food industry is fascinating and complex because it is multi-dimensional – food entrepreneurs must become experts in the development of their products while also learning how to interface with brokers, distributors, co-packers and a variety of other key players. Perhaps more so than any other industry, entrepreneurs in the food space fail because they are not adequately advised as to how to navigate through these complexities. Our food lawyers take great pride in our ability to provide a comprehensive plan and structure to work through these issues and keep our clients apprised of all relevant action points as they arise.

Launch a Food Startup

Choose the right Business Entity

Choosing the correct business entity when forming your company is absolutely essential and will largely depend on the following: the number of prospective founders, the source of financing, the scope of financing, the number of shareholders (if any) the company intends to procure, questions of liability, the type of tax treatment the founders would like to be subjected to vis-à-vis the company, and many other essential considerations. There is no right answer: Only the right answer for your business.

Should I have a Co-founder?

Launching a Food Startup is particularly challenging because of the seemingly endless number of moving parts that all have to align perfectly for the startup to stay afloat. Managing vendors, manufacturers, co-packers, designers, all while keeping investors happy is truly a herculean undertaking and would be difficult for a one-man team. Of course, selecting the right co-founder is trick. Your co-founder should be just as much in love with the Food industry as you and ready to tackle the hard work neccesary to make your company a success.

Food Labeling Compliance

Food Labeling law really does matter. A lot.

Food labeling law boils down to one word. TRANSPARENCY. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is chiefly concerned with ensuring that consumers fully understand what it is that they are about to purchase. To this end, the FDA has a very long and comprehensive list of rules which are designed to ensure that all food products and packages clearly, plainly, fully, and accurately list the ingredients contained within the product. These rules and regulations, which can be viewed by examining the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the ACT) 21 u.S.C § 343 and Title 21, 21 CFR 101are excruciatingly detailed and nuanced. Do you think your fruit snack can legitimately list “fruit juice” as an ingredient? Maybe yes, maybe no it is critical to evaluate the strength of this claim by comparing the regulations with your ingredient list before listing “fruit juice” on your label. We’re here to help.

Branding Your Food Startup

Trademarks and Packaging

Our Food Lawyers absolutely love working with creative food startups. Remember, a trademark is a word, name, symbol or slogan used in commerce in connection with the sale of a goods/service. On the most fundamental level, the purpose of a trademark is to indicate to the consumer the source or origin of the goods and thereby distinguish the product from potential competitors. Trademarks are enormously powerful because the mere presence of the trademark on the good can confer a tremendous amount of good faith. What do you assume about a new chocolate bar with the word Hershey on it – if you are like most of America, you will probably think the chocolate bar is delicious. Our Food Lawyers will help you determine if your branding assets are indeed eligible for trademark protection and how to go bout doing it.

How long does it take and how much does it cost?

We are very pleased to offer a fixed fee price for all of our trademark applications. We typically complete the trademark application process within a week of receiving the trademark order and can expect to hear back from the USPTO within 3-6 months of submitting the application.

Contact Us

An attorney will respond within 24 hours via e-mail or phone.

PROTECT YOUR NAME AND LOGO

TM Registration