In the present highly competitive business market, creating and coming up with a distinctive idea or concept for a restaurant has become extremely challenging. For any discerning restaurateur, protecting his or her unique and innovative ideas should be the topmost priority.

1. How to Protect Your
Restaurant's Intellectual
Property (IP)
11/27/2019

2. How to Protect Your Restaurant's
Intellectual Property (IP)
In the present highly competitive business market, creating and coming
up with a distinctive idea or concept for a restaurant has become
extremely challenging. For any discerning restaurateur, protecting his
or her unique and innovative ideas should be the topmost priority.
Therefore, it is essential to understand and have thorough knowledge
about the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and how they attach to
the different elements of a restaurant's brand. Having an awareness of
the IP Rights shall not only help significantly in safeguarding the
restaurant's brand from the competitors but also maximize its value in
general. So, let's find out a few proactive tips for protecting a
restaurant's Intellectual Property (IP).

3. Always be Distinctive
Whether you are having the root idea for a business in your mind or
creating a new and attractive food menu for your restaurant, you need
to be as original and innovative as you can, that too, in all aspects. By
designing an exclusive offer for your customers, you can market your
brand and facilitate Intellectual Property Protection, which shall
enable you to spot the copycat competitors in the market. While you
are thinking about a new idea, it is necessary to make sure that your
new offer fits well into the market and fulfills the needs of the
customers. Moreover, it is essential to make a point of the fact that
there are no already existing restaurants with a similar or same name
as the one you are planning to come to up with to avoid confusion.
Hence, the safest approach is to go ahead with a unique name in all
aspects to stay away from the issues of Intellectual Property
Infringement.
Make yourselves aware of the Unregistered IP
Rights
It is of utmost importance to know and understand that a few IP Rights
exist automatically regardless of getting them registered. For instance -
On the creation of original and innovative dramatic, artistic, or literary
work, copyright ownership arises automatically. In the business of
restaurants, Copyright Protection extends to the restaurant's logo, and
may even stretch to protect its food and drinks menu. Food and
beverage recipes may be protected as trade secrets, which shall result
in providing a competitive and economic advantage to the restaurant's
owner.
Go Ahead with Trademark Registration

4. For some IP Rights, it is essential to follow the registration procedure to
get them registered and obtain maximum protection, for example -
Trademark Registration. A trademark refers to a sign or symbol used by
a business owner, trader, or entrepreneur to distinguish his or her
unique services or products from those offered by the others. The
trademark registration gives an individual the exclusive rights to
prevent unauthorized third parties from using the registered mark
corresponding to the products and services covered or specified in the
Trademark Application. In the restaurant business, a trademark can
exist in a variety of forms, including the restaurant's name or logo.
Furthermore, a trademark can also exist for a unique dish name, for
example, the Big Mac burger at McDonald's.
Try to Understand the Legal Contracts you need
In the hospitality industry, it is imperative to seek legal advice and
ensure that your restaurant's IP Rights are well-protected. Let us try to
understand the same with the help of an example. In the case of
copyright - the creator or author of the work is usually its first owner.
However, the scenario is different when an employee comes up with a
unique creation in the course of employment, in which case, the
employee shall be the first owner. Besides, creative and innovative
works can be jointly owned as well if there are many people behind the
establishment of a brand. Therefore, for the correct documentation
and ownership of the restaurant's brand, you must assess or evaluate
from the outset what IP Rights might be engaged. For instance - in the
case of trade secrets, the restaurant's owner must take all suitable
steps to maintain the secrecy and may even consider including the
provision of confidentiality in the chef's legal contract or agreement. In
the case of any third person's recipe protected as trade secret, the use
of non-disclosure agreements can prove to be exceedingly beneficial.
Be prepared to take Legal Action

5. Intellectual property infringement of a restaurant's name can take
place in several different forms, including Trademark Infringement,
breach of copyright, to name a few. If you spot a competitor stealing
your ideas or infringing on your IP Rights, whether intentionally or
accidentally, you must start by seeking legal advice to find out the
extent and nature of infringement. In most of the cases, sending a pre-
action letter proves to be sufficient in resolving the issue; however,
initiating legal proceedings may at times prove to be necessary for
protecting the restaurant's brand and entity.