The question of trademarks and patents always comes up when there are discussions about packaging. As a general rule, there is no valid reason to try to protect a food recipe, since any food scientist or chemist can duplicate one with accuracy in a limited time and only slight changes are necessary to create a different product. Trademarks are a good idea because you have no idea at the beginning how much of an impact your product will have on the marketplace, and you do not want to get tied up fighting someone over a product name or design while sales are increasing rapidly. This prevents someone from using an identical or similar name or symbol that causes confusion between the products in question. This is especially true if you are considering grocery chains as a target market.
Case Counts Another consideration in packaging is case packs.
People forget that grocery chains and distributors do not buy products the same way as do individual consumers. The number of packages in a case is referred to as units per case or 12 ct. 24 ct., etc. Some larger companies use the case container as another advertising medium and print the company logo on it, which is a good idea if it is economical. For many smaller companies this isn't feasible nor is it necessary.