Polish your IP

Theft of salad recipe as a crime (similarly to copyrights)

On the basis of the article “Przepis na surówkę chroniony jak prawa autorskie” published in Gazeta Wyborcza.

Poles are passionate about their salads, very often made of different kinds of cabbage. Therefore, the market for ready-made cabbage salads is huge in Poland, and the competition fierce.

Food technologists often spend weeks, even months, trying to create a particular recipe that will be liked by consumers. In case of fresh salads, not only the ingredients but also their proportions along with a sequence of their adding are crucial for the taste and appearance.

Knowing this, in 2004 Mr. Ogórkiewicz, the owner of one of the three largest salad producing companies in Poland, in his battle over a several hundred million worth Polish salad market, did not restrict himself to a price war but also paid for stealing cabbage salad recipes from a competitor run by Mr. Grześkowiak, the largest competing company in Poland. Shortly after, Mr. Ogórkiewicz released seven new salads based on the stolen recipes under new names.

A private investigation conducted by Mr. Grześkowiak brought the whole procedure to light. Apparently, the wife of a driver employed by Mr. Ogórkiewicz worked with the cabbage production of Mr. Grześkowiak. She was thus instructed by Mr. Ogórkiewicz to follow the procedure of cabbage salad production in Mr. Grześkowiak’s production facility closely, write it down and subsequently hand over the recipes for each salad for a payment of 1,5 thousand PLN (around 350 EUR per recipe). Recipes for such salads as “El Diablo”, “Aphrodite’s”, “Fruity” and “Elegant Coleslaw” and three other were stolen and later reproduced and put on the market.

Nevertheless, the Police discontinued the investigation seeing no crime in this procedure. The prosecutor’s office did the same. In 2007 Mr. Grześkowiak thus brought a private penal indictment to Court. He proved that the recipes were a legally protected business secret. As a result, a year later the Court in Środa Wielkopolska sentenced Mr. Ogórkiewicz for a fine of 1500 PLN (350 EUR) for unfair competition. Both parties filed an appeal. The Court in Poznań in the final judgment sustained the sentence a few weeks ago.

In these circumstances, the Representative of Mr. Grześkowiak does not exclude instituting civil proceedings for much higher damages as this penal verdict facilitates civil action.

This is a landmark verdict in Poland for entrepreneurs whose business secrets are infringed. It shows that their rights can be claimed both in criminal and civil proceedings and is the first verdict where the infringer has been sentenced penally.

Author: Marta Szil
For more information on this issue, please contact Berenika Depo.

Author: admin