Protecting your recipes - A Lawyer's Input

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Kay Nein

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In May, there was a very good discussion here about protecting your recipes. There were many views expressed about the use and reproduction of internet recipes and the protection of our own personal custom recipes.
At the time, I decided to do some internet research and actually found very little on the subject. But, I did come across a blog post about trade secrets as they pertain to recipes. I made a comment to the author explaning our discussion here and it inspired her to write a two-part blog post strictly on the issue of protecting recipes. The second part specifically addresses some points I brought up from this forum.
I was pleased to see her respond in such a way and wanted to share her posts with you. Joy Butler is a Harvard lawyer specializing in entertainment, intellectual property and business law.
http://www.guidethroughthelegaljungleblog.com/2012/05/-are-recipes-protected-part-one.html
http://www.guidethroughthelegaljungleblog.com/2012/05/are-recipes-protected-part-two.html
Here's an article she references in the blog that might be of interest:
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2012/02/10/the-law-of-recipes-are-recipes-patentable/id=22223/
I encourage you to comment on her blog post with any other questions you may have as a way to show our interest and appreciation on the subject and her willingness to expound on it for us.
 
Can you post a link to the discussion we had here, I am having a blond moment and can't even recall discussing it. Thx.
 
Here's a link to our discussion back in May. It got a little off topic, but it's what caused me to post on her blog in the first place.
https://www.innspiring.com/node/11323.
K9 said:
Here's a link to our discussion back in May. It got a little off topic, but it's what caused me to post on her blog in the first place.
https://www.innspiring.com/node/11323
Thanks.
No wonder I don't remember it I made not one comment in that thread, I know I know me, not commenting, I must have been out of town. haha
 
I remember it - one lady was discussing her super cool cookies that she was thinking of making on a larger scale in the future and was worried people would copy her.
 
Yup, it was me. Cookies.
The bottom line is still what I had originally posted. A basic recipe can not be protected. Even if written in a fun, artistic way and is copywrited, a person could life the ingredients and directions, unless it were on a subscription site where it's mandatory to agree to the policies, or as a copywrited book. Even then, someone could take just the basic quantities and simple procedure to mix them and you are not protected.
For me, the only way I would be able to do it would be to trademark our name. It would protect any recipe that had our name in the title.
 
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