Advice regarding Patents

Hey guys,

Hopefully someone here can answer my question.

There is an exercise supplement called "ZMA" which is a patent pending formula containing the following

vitamin b-6 10.5mg
magnesium 450mg
zinc 30mg

Now lets say i want to produce a supplement containing the same ingredients at slightly different amounts and then give the product a completely different name. example

vitamin b-6 10mg
magnesium 400mg
zinc 30mg

Could i do this?

There are so many companies selling ZMA and but they also all call the product ZMA.
So Basically if i want to produce a product similar to this do i also have to call it ZMA?

Sorry if its a stupid question, I would just like an answer

Patent law is very tricky my friend. I have a few patents, and they are no joke. I would go buy yourself a book on patent law and start reading. Or go to a lawyer, and pay the $4,000 for it.

As for your question, you would have to read the claims on the original patent to see what it covers in order to answer it. His claim could include varying amounts of vitamins, magnes, and zinc.

To break a patent, you have to know exactly what their patent covers and what it does not.

^^ in which country is it possible to patent a mixture of ingrediances , that you can literally buy in any drug store ?

SicKk said:

^^ in which country is it possible to patent a mixture of ingrediances , that you can literally buy in any drug store ?

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Almost all of them.

Cnotey said:

Almost all of them.

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i know you can patent active substances, but not the mixture as far as i know. that would mean that you can patent a recepie for bread, not only the specific mixture but also the mixture ratio. so actually everyone producing bread has to pay licence fees for the patent. no offence but that's kind of not going into my head.

What's the difference with the recipe for coke or Pepsi? Don't they hide their recipe? But if you can break it you can call it cola or something???

SicKk said:

i know you can patent active substances, but not the mixture as far as i know. that would mean that you can patent a recepie for bread, not only the specific mixture but also the mixture ratio. so actually everyone producing bread has to pay licence fees for the patent. no offence but that's kind of not going into my head.

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So by this logic you are saying that medications can't be patented? All they are is a mixture of chemicals.

templbi said:

What's the difference with the recipe for coke or Pepsi? Don't they hide their recipe? But if you can break it you can call it cola or something???

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the ingredients are public, because the consumer has the right to know what he is drinking. the right mixture does it in this case and the mixture of the recipe is kept as a secret. in the coca cola company are only two individuals who know the recipe, and they are not allowed to get into a plane simultaneously. if the plane would crash and both of them would die , no one would be there who knows the original recipe. actually there is a lot of literature concerning the coca cola, pepsi, haribo recipes, business data, ethics and even patents online and offline.

Cnotey said:

So by this logic you are saying that medications can't be patented? All they are is a mixture of chemicals.

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the patent rights are slightly different from country to country. I can't say that there is no country that would have some patent laws that would prevent from doing so. from my point of knowledge, i never stumbled upon a country law that allows patenting vitamin mixtures. I don't claim to know everything.
chemicals are mixtures of active ingredients that have to be researched, which means it consumes work and money. there are laws to protect the consumers health and the tests with the "chemicals" are expensive. through the patent laws you have the right to protect your work and be eligible to make profit and give away licences for other companies that are interested to produce them.
the word "medication" has an industry behind it, the pharma industry. and now take a look how many of the politicians are connected with the industry and you have your answer. in the pharma industry there is only money to be made if you don't heal but medicate. how high the price is you pay for a medication is taken from a suffering-scale. the more you suffer, the more you are willing to pay for the medication.