can i copyright a dish on a menu?

[Goodegging]

if iwas to invent a new dish for a menu within a catering establishment which had not been thought off before could i copyright it?

i am not saying i would do this but for example:
baked beans in a bowl with a slice of toast on top and topped with a slice of bacon and mushrooms.

or a open topped club sandwhich?

or chicken salad served with apple, banana and pear?

basically if i thought a new and exciting dish could i co[pyright it?

 

[Cornish Steve]

It depends what you want to protect. If it's something like "Goodegging beans", you're talking about marking a name rather than copyrighting. I'd suggest browsing some legal sites to learn how to trademark a name (the expense comes from registering that trademark). If we're talking about a phrase such as "beans on toast", I'd say that's almost impossible to protect. Indeed, why would you even want to protect it?

 

[LINGsCARS]

Boy, you are full of great ideas goodegging.

Would this be a milkshake flavour?

---

Whatever, the answer is no.

 

[Dawg]

The answer is not no: look at all the cookery books which proudly proclaim themselves copyright. There have even been cases where attempts to enforce the copyright have been made in court. This is the legal position.
However, de facto-in fact, it's all a bit of a waste of time, and you will be wasting your time and money trying to enforce any copyright on recipes.

Steve: the question was about copyright not trademarks, and whilst both concern intellectual property, very different considerations arise. Trademarking a recipe is probably impossible, (altho' Heston Blumenthal might have tried at least to trademark his processes), but trademarking the name of a recipe is possible.

 

[LINGsCARS]

Yes, of course you can trademark "Big Mac", but you can't stop people making hamburgers.

Or Dawgburgers (exist in China).

Woof.

 

[wecandobiz]

Copyright is for protecting a body of work in words, music or images. What I think you are talking about is either hoping to trademark a name (which has nothing to do with the ingredients, it's just the name you have chosen to describe them all mixed together) or patenting the idea. And you won't get away with that one, as it's impossible to prove that the idea isn't being used already elsewhere.

IH

 

[Jeff-Smith]

Copyright is for protecting a body of work in words, music or images.

The copyright act comes into force when a body of work is published, therefore wecandobiz is correct, however, there is such a thing as intellectual copyright which is for the protection of information that is not published. For instance, taking info from one company to another or stealing other people's ideas.

You cannot apply a copyright to a food dish and that's why Coca Cola and Lee & Perrins etc have a "Secret Recipe" known only to two people at any one time. You could Trade Mark the name of a food dish, but not the food itself.

Personally, I wouldn't bother doing so unless you're going to put big spend behind it to establish a global brand. However, you could trade mark the name of the dish and create some marketing hype and have a "secret recipe" but if someone was able to copy your dish, chasing it through the courts may not be fruitful.

In summary, as a marketing exercise, it may be great As legal protection for a dish, spend your time elsewhere.