What is your opinion of the lawsuit? Can a chef sue for "theft of intellectual property"?
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Yesterday, Pearl Oyster Bar owner Rebecca Charles filed a lawsuit against Ed McFarland, a former employee and current chef-owner of Ed's Lobster Bar in SoHo, for allegedly copying “each and every element” of her restaurant, a tribute to the coast of Maine. According to an article in today's New York Times, those elements include "the white marble bar, the gray paint on the wainscoting, the chairs and bar stools with their wheat-straw backs, the packets of oyster crackers placed at each table setting and the dressing on the Caesar salad." McFarland wouldn't comment on the suit but told the Times his seafood shack was no copy.