Intellectual Property Law and Recipes

The dishes and recipes that chefs create are perhaps the most important assets for their careers and businesses. But what happens when a competitor [Page 837]copies a chef’s creation? Recent high-profile events have drawn attention to this issue and to the role of intellectual property (IP) law in the culinary industry. In fact, however, U.S. law provides very little protection against unauthorized copying of dishes and recipes. This entry addresses the role of copyright, patent, and trade secret laws in the culinary industry and the ways in which chefs seek to informally police copying without legal remedies.