Shredded Wheat

Region

United States

Associated With

Henry D. Perky - inventor

Defining Feature

A cereal name and pillow-shaped biscuit form contested in court

Status

Historical event - 1938 Supreme Court ruling

Overview

Shredded Wheat became the centre of a 1938 Supreme Court fight over a cereal name and biscuit shape.

Introduced in 1893 by Henry D. Perky, the cereal was made from cooked whole wheat drawn into fine shreds and baked into pillow-shaped biscuits.

In Kellogg Co. v. National Biscuit Co., the Court held that competitors could use the generic name and, after patent expiry, the familiar shape. Kellogg still had to take reasonable steps to prevent confusion over the maker, which the Court found its distinctive packaging accomplished.

Why It Mattered

A familiar product could outlast the exclusive rights that helped establish it. The decision prevented National Biscuit from using the cereal’s name and functional shape to prolong that exclusivity. Competitors could benefit from an established market while remaining responsible for making clear whose product buyers were getting.

From Wheat Threads to Biscuits

• Henry D. Perky’s US Patent 548,086 was granted on 15 October 1895 for “Bread and Method of Preparing Same”.
• The specification describes cooked whole wheat, partly dried and pressed through grooved rollers into long, fine porous threads.
• Those threads could be formed into articles of food including loaves or biscuits.

The Businesses Behind the Biscuit

• The Supreme Court recorded that Perky introduced the article in 1893, separately from the patent’s 1895 grant.
• It also recorded that the Natural Food Company built a large factory at Niagara Falls, New York, in 1901.
• National Biscuit Company had acquired the Natural Food Company’s business and goodwill by 1930, according to the Court.

The 1938 Supreme Court Decision

• The Court held that “Shredded Wheat” was a generic term whose use passed to the public when the relevant patents expired.
• It reached the same conclusion about the pillow-shaped biscuit form, while not permitting one company to pass its goods off as another’s.
• Kellogg’s cartons were found distinctive enough to identify its own biscuits; on 14 November 1938, the Court reversed the decrees against Kellogg and ordered dismissal of National Biscuit Company’s bill.

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