July 10, 2011 - 6:02am
protocol for creating recipes for a bakery
Hi all,
I am contemplating taking a position as head baker of a small wholesale bakery in Los Angeles. The bakery only has 8 items most Russian ryes and french bread. The owner would like me to create other items to sell. I am wondering what the protocol is when bringing in recipes for an existing bakery. Do the recipes become there property? Can I ask for a percentage of the proceeds from these recipes? I am not planning on staying on with this bakery for more than two years, and will eventually start my own bakery. I have been perfecting recipes for years and fear if I bring them to this bakery it will become a conflict in the future. Any feedback would be appreciated.
G
Share
Comments
I would look at the current offerings of the bakery and develop recipes that complement those goods specifically for that bakery. Keep your hard earned recipes that you have developed for yourself, to yourself.
Jeff
What I would is to check with a Attorney for this I know it might cost but in the future it save you your bread recipes or if you can check out with att general
Good luck
Chefscook
What I would is to check with a Attorney for this I know it might cost but in the future it save you your bread recipes or if you can check out with att general
Good luck
Chefscook
In general, the formula and procedures of a recipe are not copyrightable but the words used to convey them are in some cases. In other words, no one "owns" a recipe as we think of owning a car.
I am a librarian not a patent or copyright lawyer but I have gleaned this information from the horse's mouth (for the US, i.e. government sites on copyright and patent (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.pdf, http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/searchtemplates/class426-all.htm, etc.). A patent attorney can give more complete information.
In general, statements of fact are not copyrightable. Therefore, in general, recipes are not copyrightable. It is a fact that if I take a certain amount of flour, water, yeast and salt, mix it a lot, and apply heat to it, I will get a loaf of bread. The words you use to express a recipe in a concrete medium of communication are copyrightable. Therefore, the cookbook Joy of Cooking is copyrighted but the formula it uses for Key lime pie is not.
An edible product (and by extension the formula for it) can be patented. While copyright is assumed to be in force as soon as intellectual property is committed to a means of recording it (e.g., as soon as I write it on paper), patents must be applied for and must show that the invention is novel and non-obvious, among other criteria. It is up to the patent applicant to do the appropriate searching to show this in the patent application. Thus, a bread recipe would have to introduce something truly unique to be a likely candidate for patent. Patents generally last only 20 years.
Thank you all for the feedback it is a great help!
Gena