a. Did the court find copyright infringement and/or trademark infringement?
b. What were some of the courts reasons?
Missy Chase Lapine wrote a book called The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals, which was about how to disguise vegetables so that children would eat them. Her strategy was to add pureed vegetables to food that children like, such as macaroni and cheese. (We are not making this up.) Four months later, Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, published a book entitled Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets To Get Your Kids Eating Good Food which featured recipes involving pureed vegetables in (guess what?) macaroni and cheese and other kid-friendly foods.
Lapine filed suit against Seinfeld, alleging violation of her copyright in the content of the book as well as her trademark in the name and cover design. The district court granted Seinfeld's motion for summary judgment and Lapine appealed.