The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has challenged* a key patent filed by The Every Co at the European Patent Office as VTT’s spinoff company Onego Bio sues The Every Co in the US courts.**
The IP at issue covers the production of ovalbumin, the primary protein in egg white, via precision fermentation.
While The Every Co produces ovalbumin using a genetically engineered strain of yeast, the patent in dispute (EP 4017287) also covers ovalbumin production in other microbial hosts, bringing it into conflict with players using fungal or bacterial hosts.
VTT, which has significant expertise in recombinant protein production in fungus, spun out Onego Bio in 2022 to commercialize ovalbumin production in the fungus Trichoderma reesei.
Onego Bio—which is establishing large-scale production in Winsconsin—is seeking to invalidate Every’s US patent 12,096,784, filing a lawsuit* this week alleging that the patent is “invalid and unenforceable.”
VTT: Tech for producing ovalbumin in Trichoderma was public before Every’s filing
According to VTT’s filing to the European Patent Office, the European patent “discloses at best the production of unnatural modified ovalbumin in Pichia pastoris [yeast], which has its distinct features.”
However, it says, “The respective disclosure is clearly not applicable to ovalbumin produced in other host organisms [such as the fungus Trichoderma reesei].”
More importantly, Every is effectively patenting publicly known technology, claims VTT, which notes that its expertise in engineering Trichoderma reesei for expressing ovalbumin was public (and therefore not patentable) before Every filed its patent in 2020.
According to the opposition document filed at the EPO, VTT gave several presentations between 2016 and 2019 “publicly describing the recombinant expression of ovalbumin in Trichoderma reesei and the use of the resulting protein as a replacement of egg white in baking.”
In June 2019, for example, VTT’s Dr. Dilek Ercili-Cura, gave a public talk attended by hundreds of people at the IFT show in New Orleans that included slides describing the recombinant expression of ovalbumin in Trichoderma reesei, claims VTT.
The Every Co did not respond to a request for comment from AgFunderNews on the EU patent challenge or the US lawsuit.
What happens next?
Typically, when patents are challenged at the EPO, cases are handled by three examiners, and both parties exchange written arguments and evidence. Oral proceedings may also be held.
The examiners can then decide to revoke a patent, maintain it as granted, or maintain it in amended form. The patent holder has the right to appeal.
Why it matters
The recombinant ovalbumin IP dispute follows a series of high-profile IP battles in the alternative protein space, where uncertainty over IP made it more challenging for some high-profile startups to secure customers and investors.
The best-known cases are Impossible Foods’ spat with (the now-defunct) Motif Foodworks over the production of heme proteins in yeast and The Better Meat Co’s dispute with Meati Foods over mycoprotein production via biomass fermentation.
Biomilq cofounder Dr. Leila Strickland also found herself locked in a damaging IP dispute with her ex-husband that she claimed ultimately forced her to shut down her cellular ag company.
Onego Bio has not commented on VTT’s filing or the US litigation, but claimed in court filings in Wisconsin this week that The Every Co had demanded “unwarranted patent licensing fees” from Onego. It also alleged that Every engaged in tortious interference by telling third parties, including potential investors, that “Onego needs a patent license from Every or Onego would be infringing Every’s patents.”
According to Onego Bio, “Every’s demands for resolution have been objectively unreasonable and have included a proposed merger with Onego at a severe devaluation, making it clear that Every is really only interested in Onego’s commercially successful technology.”
It is demanding declaratory judgment of invalidity, unenforceability, and non-infringement of The Every Co’s US patent 12,096,784.
Egg proteins… without chickens
South San Francisco-based The EVERY Company was founded by Arturo Elizondo and David Anchel in late 2014 as Clara Foods. It has two core products: ‘OvoPro’ ovalbumin, which replaces the functionality of egg and egg whites in a range of applications, and OvoBoost, a highly soluble, ‘near-invisible’ protein bio-identical to a glycoprotein (ovomucoid) found in egg white ideal for adding to beverages.
The firm, which has secured GRAS ‘no questions’ letters from the FDA for its proteins, has raised $233 million to date and told us earlier this year that it hope to have “profitable unit economics” next year as it ramps up manufacturing capacity with co-manufacturers.
Onego Bio, which was founded by Maija Itkonen and Dr. Chris Landowski in Finland in 2022 as a spinoff from VTT, is focused on ovalbumin (brand name: Bioalbumen).
The firm, which filed a GRAS notice with the FDA late last year, has raised $75 million to date. It recently set up a commercial HQ in San Diego and is now seeking to establish a large-scale manufacturing facility in Jefferson County, Wisconsin.*The case is Onego Bio Inc v Clara Foods (d.b.a. The Every Company) filed on Sept 10 in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Case # 3:25-cv-00761
*Read VTT’s opposition documents to The Every Co’s patent at the EPO here.
** The case is Onego Bio Inc v Clara Foods (d.b.a. The Every Company) filed on Sept 10 in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Case # 3:25-cv-00761
Further reading:
‘Objectively unreasonable’: Onego Bio slams The Every Co in high-stakes patent fight
🎥How to protect your IP on a budget: A primer for foodtech startups
🎥 Onego Bio eyes Wisconsin site for chicken-free egg production, files GRAS notice
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