Tag Archives: Yoga

(SpicyIP Tidbit) India signs Landmark Collaboration Agreement with WHO to promote Traditional Medicine Systems

by Ritvik M Kulkarni May 17, 2016

Guest Post: GI for Yoga? (De)Merits and Consequences

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 11, 2015

In her first entry for our SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series, Arundathi Venkataraman, a 4th year student at NLU, Jodhpur, brings us this interesting post on whether a Geographical Indication can be granted to Yoga! In case, like me, you’re wondering why this question is arising at all – it’s because the there are several reports that the new “AYUSH” minister supposedly made a proposal to the UN for a GI for yoga! Seems yet another stretch too far, for yoga! As…

No IPR protection for modern yoga techniques

by L. Gopika Murthy January 29, 2014

3 Comments

Early this month, the Delhi High Court in the case of Institute for Inner Studies v. Charlotte Anderson discussed the important issues of whether yoga asanas or Pranic Healing are entitled to copyright or trademark protection. The plaintiffs argued that the defendants’ use of the yoga techniques, practices and other teachings invented by the Master Choa Kok Sui (the Master) without the prior authorization of the plaintiffs was not permissible as firstly, it amounted to an infringement of the copyright…

Guest Post: Delhi HC simplifies a complex Asana

by Swaraj Paul Barooah January 17, 2014

SpicyIP Tidbit: Yoga Asanas soon to be protected by the TKDL

by Kruttika Vijay June 7, 2010

4 Comments

Our regular readers (from back in the day!) will remember Shamnad and Shwetasree blogging a series of posts on the “patenting” of Yoga asanas controversy. While this report from HT suggested that the Government may be stirring up the hornet’s nest once again- we can breathe a sigh of relief– it’s all just a case of “do not judge a new article by the title”. The article seems to suggest that over 900 Yoga Asanas will be included in the…

Patent

YOGA PATENT CONTROVERSY: RIP…

by Shamnad Basheer August 20, 2007

3 Comments

Thankfully, the government is now well advised (by the Indian embassy in the US), that there is no cause for concern on the Yoga patent front–particularly since there are no patents on Yoga asanas. Readers will recollect that SpicyIP has been reiterating this point and cautioning against the media hype generated in the wake of Suketu Mehta’s NY Times editorial. Interested readers can click on a label titled “Yoga” on the left hand side of the SpicyIP homepage. Sandeep Joshi…

STRETCHING THE WRONG WAY!! METAPHYSICAL MUSINGS ON THE YOGA–PATENT CONTROVERSY

by Shamnad Basheer May 31, 2007

8 Comments

The latest move by the government of India “to lodge its protest against yoga-related patents issued by the US Patents & Trademarks Office” prompted a number of emails to me this morning. Some even went to extent of suggesting: “Surely, if the government is taking this up, there must be some merit in this case”. If you really want to believe that a naked emperor is adorned with the finest clothes, be my guest!! It’s all a matter of perception…

A dash of yoga and a whole lot of confusion

by Shwetasree Majumder May 25, 2007

STRETCHING IP: YOGA, SUKETU MEHTA’s OP-ED AND PROF SAMPAT’S RESPONSE

by Shamnad Basheer May 21, 2007

2 Comments

The controversy surrounding the Yoga guru, Bikram Choudhary and his copyrighting of “hot” yoga poses (perhaps a better term ought to be “sauna yoga”) has reared its ugly head yet again. Talk about ‘stretching” IP!!. Oh well—if a patent can issue on a method of exercising a cat by making it chase a laser beam, what’s wrong with copyrighting a more holistic exercise regimen that does not involve anything as fancy as lasers—and more importantly, one that pertains to human…

Anon { Filing this application was clearly a strategic move but I'm surprised that this article doesn't point out that the govt has to issue a notification first in the... }
Kunal Bindra { Would be very interesting to see how 'ordinarily' is interpreted. Section 30 anyway allows PPL and Novex to function as de facto Copyright Societies/CMOs. }
Adyasha Samal { That's right, it is an ad-interim injunction. I realize that's not very clear from the post (will add an edit), but my point here is not that granting... }
Jagdish Sagar { I have noticed this interesting article a little late. Three comments: (1) there is absolutely no discussion or reference to section 3 of the Copyright Act which defines... }
Anon { "It is important to note that S&S Canada had not filed a written statement, but the interim injunction was granted nonetheless." Please note that the language of the... }