Lebanon Claiming Only It Owns Hummus, Falafel, Tabouleh And Baba Gannouj
from the make-it-stop dept
Another day, another ridiculous intellectual property lawsuit. Along the same lines as various regions in France declaring that only they can sell "Champagne" or Greece being the only one allowed to offer "feta," a group in Lebanon is claiming that various popular middle eastern foods such as hummus, falafel, tabouleh and baba gannouj are property of Lebanon and Lebanon alone. In fact, the group is planning to sue Israel for "stealing" its food. They're actually claiming that this could be a violation of a "food copyright" (something that doesn't actually exist). Specifically, the group says that since Israel sells such foods, it's taking "tens of millions of dollars" away from Lebanon, where those foods should be bought. This, folks, is what happens when you build up a society around the idea of "owning" infinite goods.Filed Under: baba gannouj, falafel, food, food copyright, hummus, intellectual property, lebanon, tabouleh, trademark
