Wilson Sonsini served as lead counsel for Impossible Foods in a patent infringement litigation alleging infringement of seven Impossible Foods patents covering manufacturing processes, ingredients, and finished products relating to plant-based food containing heme and Impossible’s innovative transgenic yeast used to manufacture that heme. Our team successfully represented Impossible Foods in defense of six inter partes review petitions before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in 2022 and 2023. Wilson Sonsini defeated the defendant’s motion to dismiss and motion to stay the District Court litigation. The matter was closely watched as the first patent infringement case in the burgeoning foodtech industry. With trial approaching, the parties resolved the matter and released a joint statement that said: “This resolution affirms Impossible Foods’ category leadership and the strength of its product portfolio related to heme.”  

The Wilson Sonsini team representing Impossible Foods included Wendy Devine, Mike Rosato, Lori Westin, Matthew Reed, Tait Graves, Natalie Morgan, Matthew Macdonald, Tina Hanson, Sonja Gerrard, Jessica Ramsey, Shannon Gillespie McComb, Tasha Thomas, Alicia Umpierre, Quincy Rush, Jeff Nall, Mark Hayden, and Joyce Yao.