Yoga expert: ‘It seems idiotic they can patent it’
The Guardian June 8, 2010
“The 64000 postures form only a tiny part of yoga. Poses are not an end in themselves, but a preparation for deeper, more meaningful practices. …” Read the Full Article
Bryan’s Comments:
Agreed. It does seem silly to allow someone to patent a pose claiming that they invented it.
That misses the point of what the Indian Government was doing. I think they also believe that yoga should not be patented. They are cataloging to show that things have been done before and that people claiming to invent yoga are not really inventing anything.
Isn’t there a difference though between claiming to invent a pose and claiming to have created a sequence? Bikram of course did this several years back and copyrighted his sequence. Out of all the poses available he took 26 and chose an order and method for them to be taught. It is reasonable to believe that he was the first to create that exact sequence. Should we as a yoga community encourage this ownership over sequences?
I guess the difference between copyrighting a sequence or sharing it freely with the world comes down to a matter of money.
“Selfish desires lead to problems. Selfless motivation leads to freedom.” -Robert Moses, Dublin, NH
