Inovação e registro de patentes de alimentos funcionais no Brasil

Abstract

The segment of functional foods is a global trend with expressive growth in recent years. Investments in innovation play an essential role in maintaining the competitiveness of food companies in an increasingly fierce market. This study provides an overview of innovation over the years 2008 to 2020 in the functional foods segment in Brazil by using patenting activity as an indicator of innovation. The method adopted is exploratory, descriptive, and documental, with a patentometric bias. Using the mixed approach, the data were analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics. Data collection took place in two stages: first, a patent search was conducted in the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) database to identify patent application records on the following functional foods: (i) gluten-free (ii) lactose-free/low-lactose (iii) probiotic (iv) prebiotic and, (v) enriched/fortified products. The main results retrieved from this research point to the IPC codes belonging to the class A23L (33%), A61K (17%), and A23C (10%), confirming the deposits' relationship with human nutrition. From 2015 on, resident applicants stood out, especially in 2017, with the highest number of deposits in the period. Most patent applications target probiotics (35,3%), followed by fortified/enriched products (25,3%), gluten-free (14,3%), lactose-free/low-lactose (13,3%), and prebiotics (11,8%). Brazilian higher education institutions (HEIs) figure among the top resident patent applicants. University-industry partnerships and research-oriented collaborative networks appear to be a feasible way to foster innovation in the food industry in the country. Following these results, a search was performed in the Questel Orbit database with the word probiotic to verify the deposits of probiotic foods around the world. This stage pointed out that, as in Brazil, there is annual deposit growth and that Chinese companies stand out after the market leaders, reflecting investments in innovation by China. Thus, through patent search it was possible to verify the evolution of the patenting activity of functional foods in Brazil, showing trends and opportunities for innovation in this segment.