Gill: unhappy

Dine sues start-up catering business for menu plagiarism

Lorraine Francisco, 17 September 2008

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1 comment on this article.

Dine Services Group is pursuing legal action against a start-up catering business for copying its menus.

 

According to the firm the unnamed start-up copied its menus "word for word" on its website.

"By suing this new company we are seeking to protect not only our own intellectual property, but the entire marketplace from pale imitations," said Dine managing director and executive chef Daniel Gill.

"You would not expect a Michelin star restaurant to sit by while the creativity and quality that earned them their reputation and success was stolen from under their noses, and nor will Dine. We look forward to defending our menus in court."

 

 

 
 
 

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carl walker - 01 October 2008

It will be interesting to see how this turns out through the courts as regards menus and intellectual property, obviously I don't know the circumstances or whether it was an individual item or the full menu that was allegedly copied "word for word" as stated.

I have been a Chef for 22 years now and to better yourself as a Chef you move around and learn new things from new people and establishments, sometimes in a flash of enlightenment you have an origional idea but mostly you plan your menus based on previous experience of what works and what doesn't.

As for copying menus or menu items I cant see how Dine see they can defend this really given the EU Charter of fundemental rights unless said menus were in fact copied in full word for word and Dines clients were targeted also with said menus, then in that case I see their point but to say you cant put a chicken sandwich on your menu because we have one on ours seems a little silly. Take it as a compliment that they deem your menus worthy of copying and just because they have a chicken sandwich does not mean it is as good as yours.

I have worked for several fine dining and outside catering companies in the past ranging in menus and quality, one of them who will remain nameless for obvious reasons in the litigeous society we live in buys in frozen foods from a well known National distributor \(rhymes with snakes) and passes it off as food made in house after a massive markup, one item in particular... a fois gras pate is in fact the least expensive pate on the *snakes* price list, another is a lamb Kofta that contains no lamb.

Competition is good as it keeps everone on their toes