To Share Or Not To Share Your Recipe

Recipes are to be shared. Or maybe not.

As a food preparation business we at Blu Brier Patisserie realize that recipes are essential. I cannot tell you how many times I have written out my ingredients label in accordance with state law, by order of weight, and thought to myself,

“Why is it that KFC is allowed to keep their 11 spices secret, whereas I have to essentially give all the ingredients of my recipe away in order of volume.” ૮꒰¬`‸´¬꒱ა

Well, the answer is…

I am honestly not sure. They would say trade secrets are protected by law [1]. However, it would appear more likely that it is power, money, and influence that protect the secret [2]. If we at Blu Brier Patisserie chose to put 11 secret spices in a loaf of bread, for example, I am sure that my local governing body would have something different to say regarding our choices.

Why does this little rant matter…

Copyrighting Your Recipes

Do I have ownership of my work?

I have seen content creators claim that their recipe was stolen by someone else and state the same on the offending individual’s website. Recipe makers claim that their recipe is copyrighted and require people to remove an infringing recipe when it is shared under a different creator’s name as their original work. Which in most cases frightens the new inventor of the recipe to remove the infringing post.

However…

You cannot copyright a recipe! ૮꒰っ˕‹̥̥̥ ꒱ა

The reason for this is that they are a simple listed expression of an idea, a factual statement, and functional directions [3].

For example, if you look at chocolate chip cookie recipes you will find they all have some essential ingredients in common: flour, sugar (brown and white), chocolate chips, butter (browned or otherwise), eggs, salt, vanilla, and a leavener (baking soda and/or baking powder, and in some cases sourdough).*

Quantities very, yes. But, for the most part, they are almost identical.

 In relationship to instructions I will give a simplified version here

1. Cream

2. Mix

3. Fold In

4. Shape

5. Bake

I am sure that if you know even a little bit about baking you know exactly what to do.

In case you are still questioning whether or not this is true The Great British Bake Off would be unable to have a Technical Challenge if the basics of any given recipe were not easily understood.

What do You Copyright Then?

Well, everything else.

Photos, podcasts, videos [4]. What is copyrighted is the personal flare that you add, like the story about your grandma in the beginning or the trip that you made with your family, the layout, or the way you structure the words that are just your own [5].

What about a cookbook. It is printed, it is professional, it is protected more than web content. Right? Wrong. Once again it is the images, story, and the order for the compilation, but not the facts, which is the recipe itself, that is protected by law [6].

What Can you do Then?

How to protect what's mine?

Well, there are a few other options that you could take other than copyrighting a recipe. These are patenting, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Patenting Your Recipe

The first option for recipe protection is patenting. However, this does come with stipulations that must be met to potentially, as it can be denied, attain a patent. These are the invention or discovery must be a new and useful:

1. Process

2. Machine

3. Manufacture

4. Composition [7]

In other words, the recipe itself would not be patented, but the process that one takes to make it or the design of packaging. 

An example of a process based patent would be when,

Harland Sanders patented (US3245800A) his chicken frying method in September of 1962. However, while the cooking method was protected for 20 years the patent is now expired and everyone can use the pressure cooker method when selling their fried chicken without fear of reprisal.

(Shh, one of KFC’s secrets is revealed.) ૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა

• What is the Cost?

When bureaucracy is involved in the protection of assets you can be assured that it is not free.  To file, maintain, and protect a patent there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of potential fees [8], which does not even include the lawyer. Overall, this is a very expensive means of protection.

Trademarking Your Recipe

Another option for recipe protection is to trademark. Again this does not protect the recipe itself,  but a “word, phrase, symbol, or design” [9]. For example,

Even if you sell fried chicken in Kentucky you cannot call it Kentucky Fried Chicken, because that is a trademark owned by the company which is up to date and has been renewed every 10 years since 1966 [10].

• What is the Cost?

Just like with a patent trademarks are not free. While trademarks are not as expensive as a patent and have an unlimited life, if you renew, there is a considerable amount of fees that need to be paid [11]. Yet again, this does not include lawyers and any other external protection cost associated with protecting a trademark.

Your Recipe Trade Secrets

Trade secrets are an industry known fact which is why whether KFC’s original 11 secret spices were exposed [12] or not, the company claims that they are still secret [13], therefore they are and they are legally allowed to remain that way.

However, as I mentioned previously there is much about a trade secret that cannot work for a small business. Small businesses are not precluded from having their own version of a trade secret as much as my previous statement suggested as much.

For example, going back to the chocolate chip cookie, there are many differences in chocolate that can be considered.

1. Origin ~ The area where chocolate is created can develop a vastly different taste and texture. For example the difference between Belgian and Mexican chocolate.

2. Bars vs Chips ~ The way that chocolate melts, the appearance after baking, and even the texture are vastly different when using a chocolate bar rather than chocolate chips.

3. Artisan vs Commercial ~ An artisan chocolate is going to have a far different flavor profile and depth, which claims to have flavors of toffee, cappuccino, and spices in their milk chocolate, rather than the commercial brand which only claims to be sweet and creamy.

This is just to name a few considerations that can be weighed when choosing between chocolates for a cookie. Not to mention the most recent game of, "Is it chocolate?"

While the ingredients that make up the chocolate have to be listed the brand used does not. It is, after all, chocolate and the rest is your trade secret. ദ്ദി૮꒰◝ ⩊ ◜꒱ა

• What is the Cost?

The only cost is what you’re willing to spend on ingredients. The more bougie the ingredient the higher the price tag.

What does this Mean for Blu Brier Patisserie?

Working hard, but to what?

Firstly, I feel that it is important to say that we have worked-shopped and tested our own recipes. We have discovered what is necessary to make the baked good in question, for example chocolate chip cookies, but the final proportions of the ingredients in the cookies that we sell are all our own.

Secondly, do we intend to patent anything? Nope! We are smart and into innovation, but not that into it. Do we intend to trademark anything? One day when it is feasible, yes. Do you copyright anything? Yes, ideas are free, but the individual is not, so protecting ourselves is a must. Do you have trade secrets? Yep. Food is fun like that. There is always a way to put your personal private spin on something if you know where to look.

Third, if you came here for detailed recipes of our breads, well…

Only time will tell, so keep a look out for new Blu Brier Patisserie content!! ૮꒰˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶꒱ა

Conclusion

Thanks for coming this far.

To share or not to share a recipe, that is…

Up to you.

If you don’t want others to claim your recipe then don’t share. If your recipe is a secret then keep it to your home as there are people that can reverse engineer your recipe from an ingredient label alone. Or for that matter I know that there are some talented palates that are a threat to a good recipe, so be careful of the mouth that you let taste it. Secrets only stay secret if you never share and a recipe is only yours as long as you keep it to yourself.

We at Blu Brier Patisserie realize that we are in a position that our recipes might be copied from our ingredients list as we use simple ingredients that are listed by order of weight. We also realize that as we share more of our recipes others may claim our recipe, list of facts, as their own and that has to be okay.

We also know that,

What has been will be again,

what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiasties 1:9, NIV

So what we think is our original idea may very well be someone else’s original idea also.

However, what we can say is that they will never truly be able to copy our flavor, because they can never have Bubbles (The name of our sourdough mother/starter). But the reasons why this matters is a topic for another time.

I hope that this has given you a little more insight into recipe protection and our plans for Blu Brier Patisserie. Also, sorry that it was once again very long. Maybe next time will be different.

Until we meet again,

Rachel @blubrierpatisserie

References

[1] New York City Bar. (n.d.). Secret ingredients: How to protect recipes. para. 9. Retrieved, 2025, from https://www.nycbar.org/reports/secret-ingredients-how-to-protect-recipes/

[2] YUM! Brands Inc. (2024). Form 10-K. p. 58. Retrieved, 2026, from  https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001041061/34194e6d-73f4-478b-93ad-f5a4388a77da.html

[3] Levin, S. (2024). Are recipes and cookbooks protected by copyright? para. 5-9. Retrieved, 2026, from https://copyrightalliance.org/are-recipes-cookbooks-protected-by-copyright/

[4] Copyrightlaws.com. (2022). Copyright protection in recipes. para. 17. Retrieved, 2026, from https://www.copyrightlaws.com/copyright-protection-recipes/

[5] Levin, S. (2024). Are recipes and cookbooks protected by copyright? para. 10-11. Retrieved, 2026, from https://copyrightalliance.org/are-recipes-cookbooks-protected-by-copyright/

[6] Levin, S. (2024). Are recipes and cookbooks protected by copyright? para. 13. Retrieved, 2026, from https://copyrightalliance.org/are-recipes-cookbooks-protected-by-copyright/

[7] The United States Patent and Trademark Office. (2024) 35 U.S.C. 101: Inventions patentable. Retrieved, 2026, from https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#d0e302376

[8] United States Patent and Trademark Office. (n.d.) Patent fees. Retrieved, 2026, from https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/uspto-fee-schedule#Patent%20Maintenance%20Fee

[9] United States Patent and Trademark Office. (n.d.). Trademark scope of protection. Retrieved, 2026, from https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/scope-protection

[10] Justia. (2020). Kentucky Fried Chicken: Trademark details. Retrieved, 2026, from https://trademarks.justia.com/722/49/kentucky-fried-72249774.html

[11] United States Patent and Trademark Office. (n.d.) Trademark fees. Retrieved, 2026, from https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/uspto-fee-schedule#Patent%20Maintenance%20Fee

[12] Boscamp, E. (2016). Did Colonel Sanders’ nephew accidentally spill the secret to KFC’s recipe? para. 9. Retrieved, 2026, from https://www.today.com/food/did-colonel-sanders-nephew-accidentally-spill-secret-kfc-s-recipe-t102219

[13] KFC. (2019). KFC U.S. commissions robocop as its newest colonel and guardian of its coveted secret recipe of 11 herbes & spices. para. 3. Retrieved, 2026, from https://global.kfc.com/press-releases/kfc-us-commissions-robocop-as-its-newest-colonel-and-guardian-of-its-coveted-secret-recipe-of-11-herbs-spices

* If you are a vegan, gluten free, or have any other dietary requirements look at the equivalent recipe written by multiple people and you will find the large majority it not all the ingredients are shared amongst these recipes.

Disclaimer: In no way has Blu Brier Patisserie fully investigated each of the listed reference sites to ensure that we align with all of the information provided therein. Nor does Blu Brier Patisserie claim to support all of the information in the articles provided as support.

Please do your own research in all cases.

Blu Brier Patisserie is in no way putting themselves forward as a legal authority. If you are having a legal dispute please contact the appropriate attorney in your area for the appropriate representation and advice. The above information is only a dissemination of information as we understand it and is not to take the place of proper legal council.