Recipes, layouts and techniques: choose the right protection for every idea.
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Gabriele Rossi
In the world of cooking and the food industry, creativity is an asset that must be protected. But what legal tools can truly defend a recipe, a plating style, or a preparation technique? In this article, we analyse the main forms of intellectual property protection applicable to the food sector: from copyright to trade secrets, including patents, designs, and shape marks. Through concrete examples and operational strategies, we offer a clear and up-to-date guide to enhance culinary innovation and prevent imitation and counterfeiting. A practical resource for those who wish to transform their creations into a lasting competitive advantage.
In the food & beverage sector, creativity is not only a distinctive quality, but a true intangible asset to be protected. Every new combination of flavours, every original plating, every innovative production process can become a competitive advantage — but also an easy target for imitation and misappropriation.
Chefs, restaurateurs, and food companies face the same dilemma: how to defend creations that, although the result of ingenuity, are not immediately protected by law? In Italy, for instance, a simple culinary recipe, understood as a list of ingredients and steps, is not protected under copyright law. Yet the threat of counterfeiting is real, even at the international level.
A landmark case is the legal dispute between Ferrero and Montresor Food, a Chinese company accused of counterfeiting the famous Rocher chocolate (see Storica vittoria della Ferrero contro le contraffazioni cinesi dei cioccolatini | MilanoFinanza News). Similarly, the story of Fettuccine Alfredo — born in Rome but turned into an icon of Italian-American cuisine without the restaurant Alfredo alla Scrofa being able to claim its origin — shows just how fragile the protection of culinary invention can be (see also: Lo strano caso delle Fettuccine Alfredo, il piatto quasi sconosciuto in Italia e famoso negli Usa – Gambero Rosso).
In a highly competitive and vulnerable global market, relying solely on Article 2598 of the Italian Civil Code against unfair competition may not be enough. So, what legal tools can actually protect creativity on the plate? The answer leads us to explore other, more suitable and strategically effective forms of protection.
Anyone who has tried to understand whether a recipe can be legally protected will have encountered the same answer: in Italy, the list of ingredients and preparation steps is not protected by copyright law. But be careful: this does not mean that everything surrounding culinary creation is freely copyable.
If the recipe, understood as a technical procedure, is not protected, the way it is told may be. When a text shows expressive originality or literary value, for instance in a book or gastronomic blog, it may enjoy copyright protection. What is protected, then, is the expressive form, not the technical content.
The situation is different for those working in the food industry or in professional catering, where the main concern is the reproducibility of the process. In these cases, a more suitable protection comes into play: trade secret or know-how. Pursuant to Article 98 of the Italian Industrial Property Code, information can be protected as a trade secret if it meets three fundamental requirements:
This form of protection is ideal for industrialised production processes, where — although ingredients must be disclosed on the label — proportions, dosages, or processing steps do not need to be revealed (except as required by Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011). The classic example? The Coca-Cola formula, still a well-kept secret today.
But professional secrecy is not the exclusive domain of multinationals. Even Michelin-starred chefs, guardians of refined techniques and preparations, jealously guard their procedures. The organisation of the kitchen, precise cooking times, the sequence of emulsions: all these elements, if kept confidential and properly managed, can fall fully within the protection of know-how.
And when culinary innovation exceeds the boundaries of the method and becomes a real technical or aesthetic invention? In that case, it’s time to talk about patents, designs, and shape trademarks.
When culinary creativity takes on a technically innovative form, the doors open to protection through industrial property rights. In particular, patents, designs, and three-dimensional (3D) trademarks offer concrete and internationally recognisable protection.
Although the recipe itself cannot be patented, the technique used to obtain a certain organoleptic effect can be. This is the case of the Impossible Burger, invented by biologist Patrick O’Reilly Brown, who filed a patent for a plant-based protein capable of reproducing the taste and appearance of rare meat. Here, the protection does not cover the dish, but the technical solution behind the culinary result.
There are also interesting cases in Italy. The “puffed” cutlet by chef Giancarlo Perbellini was subject to a patent application for the preparation method, considered innovative. When the technique is new, original, and applicable on a production scale, the patent becomes a powerful tool for enhancing and defending culinary innovation.
Equally important are the tools that protect the external appearance of the product. The registered design protects new and recognisable shapes, as in the case of the Pizza Racchetta Salsiccia e Patate by Gaetano Genovesi: a product with a unique shape, easily distinguishable in the market, which can become a registrable distinctive element.
To complete the picture, we find the shape trademark, a protection that allows the safeguarding of the three-dimensional aspect of the product, where this is sufficiently distinctive and perceived as an indicator of commercial origin. This is what Ferrero tried to do with the 3D trademark of the Duplo, protecting not only the name, but also its recognisable shape.
These forms of protection transform the creative act into an exclusive right, but alone they are not enough. An integrated and informed strategy is needed. Let us now see how to build it concretely.
Whether it’s a craft laboratory, a Michelin-starred restaurant, or a large food company, the protection of intellectual property cannot be left to chance. A strategic approach is needed, capable of enhancing every creative or distinctive component of the product, from the earliest development stages.
The first step is to fully understand what is being created. This means identifying the truly original elements: product shape, production technique, ingredient combination, name, packaging. Each component must be documented, archived, and precisely classified, also in view of possible registrations or legal claims.
Once the scope of the intangible assets has been mapped, it is essential to choose the most appropriate form of protection. There is no single solution: one may resort to:
To effectively protect know-how, it is necessary to adopt concrete security measures: limit access to confidential information, formalise non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with collaborators and suppliers, maintain internal records documenting processes and tests. Only in this way can one demonstrate — in case of conflict — that the secret existed and that all efforts were made to protect it.
Finally, it is essential to constantly monitor the market, to detect copies, counterfeits, or unauthorised uses of one’s intangible assets. This activity requires time and specific expertise but can be entrusted to intellectual property professionals, capable of taking prompt action in case of infringement.
In the food & beverage world, intellectual property is not a luxury reserved for large corporations, but a concrete and strategic tool also for small entrepreneurs and culinary creatives. Knowing and applying these tools means enhancing one’s work, building a reputation, and defending a competitive edge, in a market where innovation often starts with flavour, but success depends on vision.
Gabriele Rossi
