There are actually a number of things that inspired this blog. Most importantly, I have to give credit to my intellectual property professors at Lewis & Clark Law School, who were always encouraging, helpful, and most importantly highly entertaining in the classroom. They are Lydia Loren, Joseph Miller, and Doug Newell. With their support, I was able to explore the role that copyright law plays—or does not play, as it turns out—among artistic cake designers by writing a paper on the topic. It proved to be much more interesting than I expected, and I found that I wanted to broaden my exploration of the interaction between food and intellectual property law.
There seem to be some areas where there are well established rules pertaining to food, such as within trade secret law, but other areas where intellectual property law seems to fall short, such as copyright. Trademark and patent law also related to food, but in unique ways. One thing that I learned while working on my paper is that there has not been much written about the relationship between food and intellectual property law, and I hope to fill that gap.
This blog will mainly contain my personal reflections on the topic, but may also include some scholarly references, fun and interesting stories, and perhaps even some general thoughts on intellectual property in general. I will try to keep track of any relevant legal developments, both from the courts and legislative bodies, as well as non-legal developments or events that might seem significant.
Because I am not a cook, baker, chef, sugar artist, or any other type of professional (or even modestly-skilled) food creator, I do not expect I will often post recipes or food preparation tips. In fact, I could hardly say that I am well versed in the culinary arts, and I have never dined in a four-star restaurant. But I do enjoy eating good food, and I also enjoy pondering connections among seemingly unconnected but nonetheless related areas. Hence, I have begun this blog.
