Deven R. Desai (Georgia Institute of Technology), The Likelihood of Generic Confusion, Wis. L. Rev. (forthcoming):
Just as people are asking the government to resurrect a progressive era stance on anti-trust and consumer protection in the technology sector, we should ask the government to take on consumer protection efforts in agriculture. The growth of technology-driven food production for synthetic diary, meat, and other foods and for potential food substitutes is part of a global market expected to reach $162 billion in sales by 2030. Conflicts over whether a new product created in a lab or engineered to be a substitute can be called a milk or meat or grain will persist and are likely to grow. This paper uses the conflict between the multi-billion-dollar milk and plant-based beverage (PBB) industries as a lens to show how society can support both food production innovation and consumer protection.