The IP dispute between two high-profile startups making egg proteins via precision fermentation heated up this week as the pair traded accusations in legal filings, with The EVERY Company accusing Onego Bio of harassment and Onego accusing EVERY of false advertising.
The IP at issue covers the production of ovalbumin, the primary protein in egg white, via precision fermentation. The EVERY Company uses yeast as its host microorganism, while Onego Bio uses fungus. The dispute centers on whether Onego is infringing a “foundational” patent from EVERY covering ovalbumin expression in a range of hosts.
In a recent lawsuit,* Onego Bio claimed that it had been effectively forced to sue to lift the “cloud” hanging over its business and clarify that it is not infringing the patent in question because it is “invalid and unenforceable.”
According to Onego, EVERY demanded “unwarranted patent licensing fees” and engaged in tortious interference by telling potential investors that Onego needed a patent license from EVERY or would be infringing its IP.
EVERY in turn alleged that “Onego has at all times been the only antagonist and issuer of threats while EVERY has consistently counseled against litigation.”
What’s at stake
👉 Onego Bio—which is building a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin—claims that “EVERY’s continued threats directly impact Onego’s ability to secure investment, finalize business plans, and continue to move forward with its expansion.”
👉 EVERY in turn argues that Onego initiated contact earlier this year seeking a license to EVERY’s patents and “repeatedly threatened to burden EVERY with expensive litigation” if it were not granted.
Harassment, false advertising claims
In the latest set of filings, EVERY urged the court to stay discovery (put it on hold) until a judge ruled on its motion to dismiss Onego’s lawsuit, which it says is the culmination of a “months-long effort to harass EVERY into granting Onego access to EVERY’s IP.”
Onego in turn says it “has a right to promptly remove the cloud over its business,” adding that EVERY could resolve the dispute by granting Onego a covenant not to sue but is instead “leveraging its patent rights as a strategic weapon.”
It went on to accuse EVERY of engaging in false advertising by misrepresenting its products as bio-identical to egg proteins and claimed EVERY had tried to “force a merger” to access Onego’s manufacturing capabilities and technology, “which actually does create products equivalent to natural egg proteins.”
EVERY, meanwhile, said Onego has not shown that EVERY’s statements about its proteins would deceive its audience or injure Onego.
*The case is Onego Bio Inc v Clara Foods (d.b.a. The Every Company) filed on Sept 10 in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Case # 3:25-cv-00761
Further reading:
The EVERY Co and Onego Bio eyed merger before IP talks went south, court docs reveal
‘Objectively unreasonable’: Onego Bio slams The Every Co in high-stakes patent fight
🎥 Onego Bio eyes Wisconsin site for chicken-free egg production, files GRAS notice
