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Uncategorized Tuesday, May 22nd 2012 at 7:25 pm

Oklahoma State University Discovers New Steak, Trying To Patent It

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You might not think it would be possible, but through some sophisticated knife-wizardry, Oklahoma State University and their resident meat expert discovered a new cut of steak: The Vegas Strip. Supposedly, it’s secreted away inside the slab of meat that’s traditionally ground up for hamburger. Why only “supposedly” you ask? Well, OSU won’t say exactly what the Vegas Strip really is, because they want to patent it.

The logic is based around the idea that an algorithm can be patented, an idea that’s contentious at best. Traditionally, you can’t patent recipes or fashion, and algorithms are tricky ground; you can’t patent methods of solving algebra, for example, but you can patent certain kinds of software that are definitely algorithmic. The thought here is that the “steak patent” would actually cover the knife movements used to cut it. Seems awfully close to patenting the pen-strokes used to draw a picture or the physical motions used for a dance, if you ask me.

Generally, this is the area where a company would opt for the trade secret route. You can make anything a trade secret (well, anything involved in the production of a physical product that is then sold for a profit) and trade secrets will never expire. Since you can’t patent recipes, companies like Coca Cola and KFC have opted to make their formula and blend of herbs and spices trade secrets. As a bonus, trade secrets never expire like patents do. But if a trade secret is stolen, you’re out of luck; you can’t sue anyone to stop them from using it. Considering a lot of people would have to know the secret to this steak in order to mass produce it, the trade secret route would be pretty tricky. That’s why OSU is opting for the patent, so they can license the steak to specific plants. “License the steak.” Man that sounds wrong.

Patenting methods of food production, however, isn’t completely unheard of. Steak-Umms and KFC Popcorn Chicken both had patents on them. It’s a thin line to draw between an industrial production process and a recipe, but this new steak patent might give us reason to start considering it. Given that the huge collection of increasingly restrictive patents has been clearly affecting innovation in a negative way, it’s probably best that this steak remain unpatented because, after all, a patented steak does sound absurd. That doesn’t mean it won’t be awarded a patent. Much, much more unworthy things have been issued patents, but if this doesn’t bring the “patent everything!” train to a halt, I’m not sure what will. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go patent my method of making salad. You know, the one that involves the tossing of lettuce.

(via NPR)

Can’t you see how much is at steak here?!

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  • Anonymous

    Last sentence made the article.

  • Ash

    I am a butcher up in NYC and I have to say that this is utterly ridiculous. What kind of selfish jerk tries to patent a cut of meat? Like, dude, we mutilate cadavers for a living and then eat them. If you find a new, particularly nice way to cut up a dead steer then be proud and share the skill. The whole trade is about learning and sharing, I would be nowhere without my colleagues and the wealth of knowledge we share.
    Actually, the odds are in favor that any butcher who has been sufficiently curious about the meat they cut has ALREADY found, cut and eaten the “Vegas” steak… and then decided it didn’t sell well enough to keep doing it. I have done this countless times with many different pieces throughout steer, hogs and ewes.

  • http://www.albuquerqueflowers.info/ albquerque flower

    It’s secreted away inside the slab of meat that’s traditionally ground up for hamburger.

  • http://twitter.com/KennyZ3D Kenny Zaborny

    Exactly, this leads to the question: Are we talking less meat left for hamburgers? Cause that would make me sad.

  • Paul Johnson

    You realize you can grind up pretty much any bovine to get hamburger, right?  Also, try bison burgers…it’s better than sex!

  • http://twitter.com/KennyZ3D Kenny Zaborny

    I haven’t had bison burgers before. My comment was a poorly crafted attempt at a joke toward the end of an eighteen hour work day. I must apologize for it.

  • http://twitter.com/KennyZ3D Kenny Zaborny

     I replied to this earlier but the internet ate it. I haven’t had bison burgers. My comment was really just a poorly constructed joke after 18 hours of work. I do apologize for it.

  • Kickasspodcast

     You sir need to have better sex

  • http://www.facebook.com/ken.jones.35728 Ken Jones

    Regarding Utility Patents, (not US Design patents, which are easy to get and get around) you can’t patent an idea or a slice of meat, all you can patent is a product or a process which mustn’t be ‘obvious to somebody skilled in the art’ like a butcher. The best cuts of meat are market driven so the only opportunity would be a process different to mince which creates a steak from the parts that are discarded like offal. As these go to pet food and other products the new product would need to sell at a higher price to be worth the trouble of applying for a patent. I would imagine about the only way of getting a patent on a beef would be to create a homogenised product, which is different to a burger. If you liquidized offcuts, congealed the soup into a solid and then sliced it up the PROCESS might be worthy of a patent, however could the product be described as beef? More importantly would anyone buy it? That’s the bit that most inventors ignore. If anyone is interested in patenting I’d recommend DIY Patent Online, a cheap Amazon ebook, which tells you what you want to know in words you can understand. They also have a website which is not selling any services, just telling you how to go about patenting internationally without an attorney.