Theory and practice of intellectual property
№ 4 / 2020

ISSN (Print) 2308-0361
ISSN (Online) 2519-2744

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33731/42020.216938

Published      2020-11-23

Culinary products as untypical copyright objects

Olha Ulitina
Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0230-9477

Abstract
Nowadays the process of cooking is becoming more creative, it acquires certain features of art. Cooking is developing not only at the level of the restaurant business because of the special creative contribution of the chefs, but also in the kitchens of ordinary people who are trying to add diversity to their dishes. Today, food should be not only delicious, but also aesthetically pleasing. «Instagram dishes», «Instagram plating» are especially popular, because of their attractiveness and unusual look.

The article is devoted to the study of the copyright protection of culinary products. The copyright legislation of Ukraine and some foreign countries, which in one or another way can be used for protection of the intellectual property rights to culinary products are analyzed.

The article also considers the question of whether culinary products can be recognized as derivative works. It is determined whether the recipe can be protected by copyright and established how the concepts of culinary product and recipe relate.

Author states that a culinary product as a category consists of four components: 1) idea (recipe/technological process of production), 2) name, 3) the process of cooking itself, and 4) platting (presentation of the dish). The concept of «recipe» is absent at the legislative level in Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian and foreign scientific sources the recipe can be protected by copyright as a literary work. However, in this case only the form in which the recipe is expressed (fixing in tangible medium of expression) is protected. The idea, the essence of the recipe will not be protected under the copyright protection. Therefore, the protection offered by the copyright law in this case cannot be used to protect the rights to a culinary product made by the recipe.

The finished dish is the final product of the recipe, the result of being fixed in a tangible medium, similar to the architectural projects and buildings in which the projects are «fixed».

The author claims that some culinary products can be recognized as a derivative works which relates to the original works of fine art. A specific category of Ukrainian legislation — branded food can be protected by the norms of Ukrainian copyright law.

Keywords: copyright, untypical objects, culinary products, copyright protection

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