This article is a few years old, but deals with a lawsuit where New York Chef Rebecca Charles claimed intellectual property in her menu when another chef copied the concept for her restaurant. The case apparently settled out of court:
"In recent years, a handful of chefs and restauranteurs have invoked intellectual property concepts, including trademarks, patents and trade dress -- the distinctive look and feel of a business -- to defend their restaurants, their techniques and even their recipes, but most have stopped short of a courtroom."
