Patent Trolls Generating Negative Karma

September 26, 2013 9:35 AM

Yoga International, publishers of a similarly-titled magazine, recently migrated to an all-online content. As part of their new technology platform, they have been providing online yoga instruction utilizing a visual recording of a standard yoga classroom set-up. YogaGlo, providers of on-line yoga classes, sent Yoga International a cease-and-desist letter claiming that their recently filed patent application covers the type of view being filmed for an on-line yoga class, and that Yoga International is in violation.

Yoga Alliance, a not-for-profit trade association representing yoga teachers, schools, and studios has provided a nice perspective and is organizing a petition drive.

(Nota bene: Patent trolls and how to respond to them, have been discussed on the blue before, as one could imagine)

posted by scblackman (19 comments total)

The legal system reminds me so much of ancient Rome. On the surface there is a veneer of justice, but it's really a matter of who has the money, who has the cunning, and who has lots of fiends.
posted by EnterTheStory at 9:45 AM on September 26, 2013 [6 favorites]

That patent application is amazing and a must-read. Please tell me that POV porn has been similarly patented.
posted by Behemoth at 9:51 AM on September 26, 2013

but it's really a matter of who has the money, who has the cunning, and who has lots of fiends.

I think this is a typo, but either way it's true.
posted by nooneyouknow at 9:52 AM on September 26, 2013 [10 favorites]

*Is* there an existing patent for video presentations online? *Is* it specific to yoga?

Patent trolls exist because many patent granting courts/admins/whatevers grant this kind of ridiculous patent in the first place.

So my take is that the patent administrations are the cause of patent trolls.

(I'm working on a patent application for white text with yellow highlights on a blue background at the moment...)
posted by CrowGoat at 9:54 AM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Previous IP shenanigans in yoga.

(Though that's honestly minor compared to Bikram Choudhury's other (alleged) transgressions.)
posted by kmz at 9:56 AM on September 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

How can a patent apply to the content on that is being streamed (Yoga) rather than the mechanism, which in this case involves little more than the placement of a camera?

Theoretically they could circumvent the patent by no longer calling it Yoga right?
posted by PenDevil at 10:05 AM on September 26, 2013

Yeah, once yoga becomes a commercial endeavor, it immediately descends into ugly controversy. I think this may have been posted on the Blue a while back, and it really disturbed me, the way business interests were threatening to interfere with the way Ashtanga was being taught.
posted by mittens at 10:06 AM on September 26, 2013

Thank goodness that someone is protecting our precious Yoga resources!
posted by blue_beetle at 10:10 AM on September 26, 2013

Theoretically they could circumvent the patent by no longer calling it Yoga right?

Maybe just play a rimshot after each posture so that it is protected as parody?
posted by mittens at 10:28 AM on September 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

So much for karma.
posted by arcticseal at 10:31 AM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Reminds me of this:

Host Ira Glass talks to the Arnold Abbott, the founder of "Love Thy Neighbor," a Florida charity that's being sued by "Love Your Neighbor," a Michigan ministry and business. "Love Your Neighbor" owns the trademark on the phrases "Love Your Neighbor" and "Love Thy Neighbor;" the attorney for the Michigan business Julie Greenberg, contemplates whether suing a neighbor can fall within the category of loving them as yourself.
posted by bukvich at 11:31 AM on September 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

Part of the appeal of yoga is its unifying power, which promotes harmony both within one's self as well as between people, communities and our environment.
posted by ersatz at 11:38 AM on September 26, 2013

Yeah, once yoga becomes a commercial endeavor, it immediately descends into ugly controversy. I think this may have been posted on the Blue a while back, and it really disturbed me, the way business interests were threatening to interfere with the way Ashtanga was being taught.

Looks like you needn't be disturbed anymore - last month it was announced that the Jois Yoga studios discussed in that Vanity Fair article are closing and the Jois Foundation with shift to a non-profit education focus.
posted by dnash at 12:12 PM on September 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Well, the C&D letter isn't much of a deal yet. It's just saying "Hi there, I'm the biggest asshole alive, how are you?"
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:14 PM on September 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

I will spare you what I think of the organization nudging its way into schools.
posted by mittens at 12:14 PM on September 26, 2013

EnterTheStory: "The legal system reminds me so much of ancient Rome. On the surface there is a veneer of justice, but it's really a matter of who has the money, who has the cunning, and who has lots of fiends."

EnterTheStory, I and these five knife-armed friends of mine would like to pointedly disagree with you on that point. What say we meet outside Capitol Hill next March 15?
posted by IAmBroom at 1:13 PM on September 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

As the CEO of lululemon athletica, I would like to say on behalf of myself, the board, and our investors, that we deplore this attempt to commercialize the sacred traditions and practices of yoga.
posted by Alexander J. Luthor at 1:58 PM on September 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

There are really quite a lot of douchebags in the yoga business.
posted by kjs3 at 3:02 PM on September 26, 2013

Namaste.
posted by sixpack at 3:41 PM on September 26, 2013