I’m a diligent copyright manager but an even more diligent foodie. So this one certainly caught my eye.

In an editorial approriately called “Food for Thought,” in the first issue of the U of Maryland’s Center for Intellectual Property newsletter, Executive Director Kimberly M. Bonner writes about a recent article in Food and Wine magazine on “a matter that has become all the rage in culinary circles—copyrighting and/or patenting cuisine.” She goes on to describe a particular example from the article:

“Chef Homaro Cantu of Moto restaurant cooked up a legal disclaimer. He placed the following language on a tiny sheet of edible paper that tastes like cotton candy:

Confidential Property of and © H. Cantu. Patent Pending. No further use or disclosure is permitted without prior approval of H. Cantu.

Yes, I know your mind is spinning with the endless possibilities of copyrighting a recipe as expressed in food. Will my organs and cells be enjoined from “further use” via digestion because I have not obtained prior approval of the chef/owner? Eventually, the food will exit the body (in some fashion). So, is that an illegal distribution or a derivative work?…”

Good question.

Actually, this bothered me because I’d recently read something, somewhere, about the fact that creativity furiously flourishes in both fashion and cuisine despite the fact that they do not enjoy copyright protection, which is supposed to encourage creativity. I’d been rolling that idea around in my head for the last few days, savoring it and wondering what to do with it.

But I guess the idea was already passe. The chefs spoiled the soup before we ever got to it.

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