It’s Friday and Happy Hour draws near . . . so why not mix IP and gin and . . . well, be creative – that’s the point. Here’s a great post on intellectual property law (trademarks and copyright) as applied (or not applied) to mixed drinks. It provides a great discussion of the theories on incentives for creation of intellectual property beyond those embodied in copyright and patent law.
So, An IP Lawyer Walks into a Bar . . .
As an aside, and as a peek into my pop culture-riddled brain, the discussion immediately reminded me of the “Flaming Moe’s” episode of the Simpsons. That show did demonstrate (perhaps unintentionally) that IP could protect cocktail recipes, namely through the use of trade secrets. In fact, the episode is a pretty good walk through of the benefits and downsides of using trade secret protection. Gonna have to work that into a class . . .
Writer-in-Law 