JONAS KAMLET PATENTS DEALING WITH FOOD AND FOOD ADDITIVES

We examined food-related patents of Dr. Jonas Kamlet, who was cofounder with his wife of Kamlet Laboratories, a pioneering consulting firm that was open from 1940 to 1979. The food patents comprise a patent subset of some 18 of 81 US patents that he obtained during his life. The patents cover a range of materials, including chemicals used as additives in food, preservatives of ice cream, coloring agents, and sources of inexpensive materials for additives for ruminants' foods. Typically, the patents were assigned to various chemical firms, the method by which the Kamlets generated a significant income and that led to the growth of their operation. The availability of the Kamlet Laboratories Records in the University of South Florida Tampa Campus Library has permitted an insight into operating practices as well as an appreciation of how shrewd he was in writing contracts and generating compensation for his ideas and innovation. Also, one can obtain an insight into how the inventions can be marketed.