“Copycat Cuisine”: Is it Sharing or Stealing?

Nancy Kruse of Kruse Company, a company that analyzes food and menu trends, debates whether chefs’ culinary creations should be protected under “trade dress” intellectual property rights. Some wonder why recipes do not have the same legal protection as other operational attributes like logos, signage and decor. Trade dress currently protects authors and musicians, but chefs do not benefit from the same security.

In all fairness, the restaurant world has shrunk. Chefs respond to trends similarly and consequently use the same seasonal and/or trending ingredients to accommodate their target market. It’s no wonder resembling recipes appear in multiple venues, probably in an unintentionally sinister way.

Certain chefs advocate for recipe copyrighting because developing a recipe can be a lengthy process. Seeing their idea on another chef’s menu feels like a violation, understandably. Other chefs however, like Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin and Ferran Adrià of the former elBulli, perceive recipe imitation as a form of flattery. In fact, Chef Adrià encourages the free sharing of recipes and ideas amongst the chef community, and Chef Ripert admits to borrowing ideas from fellow chefs, including Chef Adrià.

Is recipe borrowing menu plagiarism, or just that— borrowing?