Impossible Foods Tests a Tastes-Like-Meat Patent in Court

Impossible Foods’ meat-free burgers are becoming a staple in U.S. restaurants and grocery stores. Now the company has taken its technology to a new place: the courtroom.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Impossible Foods Inc. has spent the past several years building a portfolio of patents around a key ingredient that gives its burgers meat-like flavor. It deployed one of those patents against a competitor, Motif Foodworks Inc., in a recent infringement lawsuit.

The suit tests Impossible Foods’ patented technology for the first time in court, where accused infringers can spend big money challenging patent validity. It’s viewed as a test case ...