Man tries to copyright a chicken burger for $10 million, gets shut down by judge

Man tries to copyright a chicken burger for $10 million, gets shut down by judge
"A recipe—or any instructions—listing the combination of chicken, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mayonnaise on a bun to create a sandwich is quite plainly not a copyrightable work" said the judge

By Helena Horton 12:48PM BST 26 Aug 2015

A man has filed a complaint asking for "all the earnings produced by his creation" at a sum of $10 million (£6,405,513).
His "creation" is a chicken burger which "consists of a fried chicken breast patty, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, and garlic mayonnaise on a bun," the judge wrote.
Norberto Colón Lorenzana, the man who filed the complaint, claimed that both the recipe and the name of the so-called Pechu Sandwich "is a creative work, of which he is the author".

Lorenzana said that he came up with the chicken burger idea when he was working in the South American Restaurant Corporation in Puerto Rico. He claimed that he came up with the idea for the burger, which went on sale in 1991.

The chef failed to convince the court that he should receive $10 million. The judge wrote "A recipe—or any instructions—listing the combination of chicken, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mayonnaise on a bun to create a sandwich is quite plainly not a copyrightable work."