資料來源
http://mannatech.com/DMNews_14Articles.asp
標題
Ahead Of The Competition (8/3/2006)
副題
Mannatech products meet strict quality specifications
In the continuing quest to market useful products, companies often find themselves besieged by copycats, and the best inventions are often hard to patent.
With Mannatech, the Coppell-based manufacturer of innovative nutritional supplements founded in 1994, copycats don’t stand a chance. Careful planning has allowed the company to hold onto its “first mover” advantage, while also avoiding the “biggest loser” curse that often befalls ambitious startups with revolutionary inventions.
“We were the first to recognize that the body needs a dietary supply of certain sugars, and we invented the term ‘glyconutrients’ to describe them,” says Mannatech CEO Sam Caster.
“Because we were the and continue to file — compositions and methods
of making glyconutrients.”
Glyconutrients include sugars that are essential for cell-to-cell communication throughout the body, which helps ensure a properly functioning immune system, Mr. Caster explains. Each sugar is naturally occurring and cannot be patented. “But what can be patented,” he says, “is a composition of vital sugars missing in our modern diets.
“We own the patent rights in 20 countries to put these sugars together into a dietary supplement,” he adds.
John Rollins, Ph.D., an award-winning former patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, was recently quoted as saying that glyconutrients represented the most important wellness discovery he had seen in his 21 years of service.
Mannatech firmly defends its intellectual property through legal channels, but even if that weren’t the case, executives say, imitators are in no position to steal the company’s loyal customers.
“Mannatech’s focus is on proprietary, patented products that a person cannot just go and get off the shelf at a local drugstore,” says Tait Switzer, Mannatech’s director of product development. “All Mannatech products are made at qualified facilities that have been audited by their state health departments. Our contract manufacturing companies are also audited by Mannatech’s internal Quality Assurance Department, and the finished product must meet strict specifications before it can be sold.”
Competitors will find it difficult to match Mannatech’s level of quality and consumer trust, Mr. Switzer says. “Nutritional supplements vary greatly, and when you are dealing with an unethical imitator, there is no way for the consumer to determine the quality of that product.”
Though Mannatech’s leaders are confident that the company will maintain its market advantages, they are not taking success for granted. “We are always evaluating new, high-quality, plant-based ingredients for exciting new products and improvements to our current product line,” Mr. Switzer says.
“For years to come, we will continue to take an active role in helping consumers evaluate and meet their bodies’ unique nutritional needs,” he says.
