As a large yoga fan (Bikram is my thing—can’t recommend it more highly, in fact thanks to Jordan for positioning our London office right next to a studio) this caught my eye in today’s Telegraph online.
I agree with the sentiment expressed by the Indian government spokesman. Like France with real champagne (another of my weaknesses) or the Spanish with flamenco, the British with soccer (I’d much rather he’d said cricket or rugby, but I’ll give him football too), many countries invent and create things which are a deep part of their cultural heritage, and then those things in an ever smaller world get exported and adapted. We Brits have to be proud and are self-deprecating about how we gave the World so much then find that the World takes us on and beats us at it.
But attempting to patent an form of physical and spiritual exercise that is more than 2000 years old? As an IP strategist I think you’re taking the wrong tack on protection India. And I think you may have a prior art problem.
Surely one better approach is the French one with champagne. Real champagne can only come from the Champagne region of France and nowhere else…everything else can be produced using the champagne method but isn’t champagne and can’t be called champagne.
Or alternatively go the British route of open innovation without protection (I’m not claiming this to be a deliberate strategy by Britain, more than it happened by default). Give your inventions to the World on the basis that everyone knows Great Britain invented these sports (or the multitude of other great things we gave the World), and attributes value to the country and its heritage as a result. Worldwide, British inventorship is still admired and lauded. There is surely some hidden intangible and brand value in this.
Does anyone with half a brain think that yoga was invented anywhere other than India? It certainly gives me as a beneficiary a warm feeling about India as a country. Personally I think the open innovation route, whilst making sure that the World knows it was India that gave this invention to the World, is a way better way of thinking about the problem. I’d then accept with open arms the compliment that vast numbers of people of diferent colours, creeds and ages found MY invention to be part of their lives.
Spread it and nurture the Indian way as the genuine and original way. Don’t go the patent route..you may end up being labelled a troll which is very un-Yoga.
It would be an interesting IP strategy project without a doubt.
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This issue has caused quite a lot of comment and traffic around the various IP blogs and tweets. According to a voice of common sense, Rob Jackson at Dehns (obviously not a blogger, I did ask him to throw up a comment,( http://www.dehns.com/partners/robert-jackson.asp) the purpose of the Indian government’s recording exercise is primarily NOT to file its own patents but to demonstrate that the original positions represent prior art to others trying to patent how the original positions have been adapted. This makes great sense of an otherwise skewed debate which the Telegraph and lots of others have grabbed the wrong end of. Thanks Rob.
I don’t necessarily agree with the approach India is taking, but I do think it’s ironic that you cite Bikram Yoga in this article as your preferred style. My personal guess is that Bikram, who patented the 26 postures used in his classes and now has franchises worldwide, is an example of why the Indian government is concerned. It does not surprise me, as people observe the wealth Bikram has gained from patenting those poses, that India would worry about western cultures appropriating yoga. Bikram’s patents are the same as a single Frenchman patenting Champagne under his name, and making millions doing so.
Moreover, the incredibly incomplete and skewed understanding that many westerners have of yoga has created a trend in which an ancient art focused on wellbeing has begun to cause injury to those practicing it. Bikram classes in particular emphasize doing every pose fully, regardless of whether it is appropriate for your body or not. I’m curious to see how this all develops, and hope that something positive may even come out of it, if people in the west become more exposed to the philosophy of non-harming and self-reflection from which yoga developed.
The article is very informative. I would like to share some interesting information on Diwali. I blogged on The Bright and The Beautiful – Diwali Patents. An abstract “invention is about the customized light module which includes housing, a light source, a decorative cap and a battery. The housing which includes the light source, decorative cap and a battery is kept inside an aperture (opening which let light in) of footwear, and the decorative cap is configured to illuminate when the light source illuminates.”
To read more please visit
http://www.sinapseblog.com/2010/11/bright-and-beautiful-diwali-patents.html
Thanks for sharing this post.