Abstract

Of late, a great deal of attention has been paid to culinary art. This is essentially due to the plethora of emerging cooking literature, television cooking shows, celebrity chefs’ social media, and competitive cooking programs, thereby creating a popular food culture like never before. Aided by the ease of sharing and accessibility of such food recipes and food presentation skills on social media platforms, food has become a matter of status and trend in recent times. Over the last few decades, our intellectual property rules have evolved significantly. Gone are the days when IP was thought to be limited to "copyrights for books" and "patents for innovations." Even an invented phrase for a culinary product (for example, "Frappucino" for cold coffee) can be protected under trademark law today. Patent law can protect even the most fundamental of inventions, such as how to fold a paper packet for sale. As a result, thanks to the advanced and comprehensive IPR framework, each step where one can add ingenuity, whether scientific or artistic, is entitled to IP protection. Food plating, or food sculpture as it is better known, is both a science and a skill that can be perfected. Chefs are sought after and recognized all over the world for their self-taught culinary skills and presentation methods. Chefs think about food plating in the same way that corporations think of brands. Copyrighting the art of plating will help to establish a unique relationship between the chef and his creation. It will also give him the authority to prevent other chefs, hotels, and restaurants from replicating the way he displays the food. Food plating is a unique art form; therefore, it will be interesting to see what kind of intellectual property will be used to protect it.

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