When we heard the streaming online company YogaGlo was trying to patent the way they filmed classes, we thought it was a joke. For those of you who are out of the loop, this is their revolutionary new method; [the] “look and feel” of a YogaGlo online streaming class is comprised of the following elements that all must be present in conjunction with one another: position of camera, position of the teacher, position of the mats relative to the camera and the teacher, an open corridor down the middle, the teacher must be facing the camera, the students must be facing the teacher, etc." according to the statement they posted.

Or as marketing and branding consultant for yoga studios Adrien Edwards said, “it’s like trying to patent the way you organize how people sit in church – pastor at the front and people looking towards him. 

Unfortunately, it would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.”                                                                                                                                                      

 

Once YogaGlo filed, they sent out dozens of cease and desist letters, they told Todd Wolfenberg Director of YogaInternational, the online magazine of The Himalayan Institute (including one to a teacher in Canada who teaches a charity class for cancer). [The letter] “was very simple and just informed us of their patents and that we infringed upon them. We later had a followup call where they asked us to remove the content, which we did not do because we do not feel that their patent will be accepted, nor do we feel what they have done is a unique invention,” he later emailed me.

 

Is the organization of the class unusual? Check out this video of Pattabhi Jois that was shot years ago.

Is the camera angle unique? “There is nothing special about the way they have filmed the class, nor about the particular combination of elements for an online class.  They involve a fixed camera, a teacher facing the camera in front of the class, mats spaced apart, with students facing the teacher. This technique has been used since the beginning of filmmaking, going back to the first films of D.W. Griffith at the beginning of the 1900's,” says Bette Gordon, a Film Professor at Columbia University and Supervisor of the Directing Program, who watched two YogaGlo classes.

 

But it is scary getting a letter like this – especially if you don’t have a stack of money sitting around to hire an intellectual property lawyer.  “We were flabbergasted by this broad, non-descript patent,” says Wolfenberg. It is clearly a way of monopolizing the filming of this business and that is pretty shocking.”  

 

Richard Karpel, President of the Yoga Alliance, who has issued a petition urging Derik Mills, founder of YogaGlo, to withdraw his patent because “the idea that someone could own a patent like this is unconscionable. Our goal is to keep them from getting it.” So far, it has been signed by over 13,000 people.

Patent applications for “ways of doing business” have flooded the US Government Patent Office. Of course some companies actually come up with innovative and new ways to do things, but many know that they can either use these to shake down the competition or bully their way into owning the playing field.

“Most yogis don’t understand the complexities of patent law but they understand that that YogaGlo shouldn’t be able to own it and are very, very angry. It is not in the spirit of yoga,” says Karpel.

Yoga has been around about 6000 years, continually evolving like fashion, retail and film. (Kubrik didn’t even patent the steady cam first used in the Shining) These things are “open source” says Brian Ratte, founder of online streaming company YogaVibes, meaning that people take from them, refashion them, make something new – that is one of the spiritual elements of yoga.  It is open to all comers and naturally keeps evolving. 

 

No one patented blocks, ropes, mats, or the standard rope wall – and that is good because Michael Hayes of Buddha Bodies has just redesigned a wall to allow very heavy people to feel safe working in hanging asanas. Would he have been able to do that if he’d had to pay a licensing fee, probably not.

 

The real question is: can YogaGlo get this patent? Zak Shusterman, an Intellectual Property Lawyer, says that the US Government office has gotten “really, really stringent about these “method of doing business” patents [unlike invention patents] especially in the online domain because they have to show something that is “novel, useful, and non-obvious. Patents like this one are looked upon with disdain because there is very little here that could meet that criterion.”  

One hot topic in the patent world is that folks are now using them to extort fees from people who are actually being productive, added Shusterman. The government is aware of this, but sometimes they screw up. As it did when Bikram was granted a patent for 26 yoga positions, rapaciously went after studios using them in hot yoga classes, until his patent was rescinded.

So what does YogaGlo's Derik Mills think of all of this negative publicity? Is it worth it or will he lose more customers because his actions are considered by many to be audacious, avaricious and ignorant?  

In his online biography he writes that he learned about yoga “at university and discovered a fascinating, universal wisdom tradition that deeply resonated with me.” (Maybe he was out sick when they discussed the yamas and niyamas – like asteya and aparigraha.)

Mills says to connect with him on Facebook. I did.  Not surprisingly, he didn’t connect back with me. His pr agent Emily from Symphony PR - which also represents Nestle, GM, Mitsubishi Motors - returned my email by quoting the statement at the top.  When I asked her for more information, she didn’t respond.

What is being done? First “Vote with your dollars. Take your business elsewhere if your values don’t align with theirs,” says Brian Ratte of YogaVibes.  Be More Yogic, another online streamer, is having a contest for the most insane yoga patents, and they are giving away a free month of yoga to anyone who cancels their YogaGlo membership.

 

Great moves, but we in living in the real world now, and it is time for someone to draw a line in the sand, and that is exactly what the Yoga Alliance is doing.  According to a press release Richard Karpel just put out, “YogaGlo has submitted not one, but two patent applications for essentially the same idea, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has already issued preliminary communications in which all the claims in both applications have been rejected as being unpatentable.

So when YogaGlo sent a cease and disist letter to Yoga International last month, they already knew that the USPTO had specifically rejected all the pending claims upon which the letter was based.” (Talk about ballsy!)

Secondly, the claims by YogaGlo are inconsistent with their patents. “Yoga teachers or studio owners don’t even need to distribute a DVD or stream it to violate YogaGlo’s claim; setting up their studio in the manner described in the patent application claims would be enough to trigger a violation,” continues Karpel’s statement. (Yup, you read that sentence right – filming a DVD, or even organizing a class with the teacher standing in front etc. would be owned by YogaGlo and studios would have to pay them to do it.)                                       

 

Unfortunately both Congress and the White House agree that the patent system is broken and so the Yoga Alliance will have their lawyers take the case to the United States Patent office if YogaGlo does not withdraw the application.

 

In the meantime: Let YogaGlo and their teachers know how you feel about this on their website and Facebook pages and sign YA’s petition. Studio owners: Let Richard Karpel, President of YA, know if you have received a cease and desist letter.

 

We will continue to follow this story as it unfolds.

 

--Cynthia Kling,

Yogacitynyc.com

 

 

 

 

 

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Patent Approved? WTF, Yogaglo

 

 

Yogaglo, You Must Go

 

Well.

This sucks.

 

And so does Yogaglo.

 

You may remember that not too long ago Yogaglo was embroiled in a lot of controversy over it’s cease and desist letter sent to another competitor, because they were in talks with the government to patent camera angles in their online yoga classes. The competitor’s camera setup was very similar to Yogaglo’s.

 

Yogaglo’s camera setup

 

Well, many of us thought this idea was ridiculous, as the very idea of patenting camera angles is

absurd. I mean, the government really doesn’t patent that kind of stupidity, right?

……Apparently they do.

 

I am clearly totally naive to have believed our government would have the foresight to understand camera angles and yoga classes are far too broad and universal to get patented.

 

But I have never studied patents in depth. Alas, I was wrong. The US patent office has approved Yogaglo’s submission to claim their yoga class setup.

 

 

Horrible Government Policy

 

Ugh.

This whole thing stinks to high heaven of greed and schemes to stifle competition.

 

I guess for me, I get especially triggered over this kind of stuff because there is a definite need for successful businesses in our country, and these kind of patents stifle industries.

 

 

The Result of this Patent

 

If this patent is actually enforced, it is my opinion that there will only be two top online yoga services: Yogaglo and MyYogaOnline.

 

The reason being is actually rather simple: Yogaglo’s setup is cost efficient. One camera, easy editing. Not a hugely complicated production.

 

But MyYogaOnline is quite complicated, with many camera angles and great looking shots. Bigger production equals higher costs. An entry level competitor with small start-up capital would have tough choices to make…how could they create the lowest cost videos without sacrificing the user experience?

 

The camera angles Yogaglo uses give that possibility. It would be extremely hard to come in and communicate a yoga class effectively with other camera angles if your start-up funds are minimal.

As more and more time goes by, other start-ups would have significant issues competing with such strongly established industry leaders…on the one hand, a patent preventing them from exploring low cost options, and in the other hand a much higher cost of production with multiple camera angles.

 

The result?

Two dominating companies.

 

And mark my word- if this patent is actually enforceable there will be other companies sniffing around looking to acquire Yogaglo due to it’s market position.

 

Smart move on their part.

 

But horrible for consumers and businesses alike…less options, less spreading of wealth; and less competition also means lower quality over the long run too.

 

It could also spin off a patent war, not just in the yoga community but other industries as well that film classes online.

 

 

Yoga Alliance to the Rescue?

 

Yoga Alliance has (thankfully) been all over this. 

They have written several articles about the matter, and even got 14k email signatures in petition over the offensive patent application. 

 

They had this to say over the patent approval (via): 

Under U.S. patent laws, applicants must apply for a patent within one year after they initially use their invention in the normal course of business. We have learned that video material on YogaGlo’s own website predates its original filing on Aug. 27, 2010 by more than one year, and duplicates the system and method of recording a yoga class that YogaGlo is trying to patent. That video material clearly constitutes prior art that invalidates the claims in YogaGlo’s patent and renders it unenforceable.

 

Hopefully they’re right. But something tells me that if they are, Yogaglo will find a way to fix it in order to acquire their sought after prize of a miniature monopoly…over online yoga classes.

Yogaglo- is it really worth it?

 

I think not. Hoping you come to your senses and drop this. 

 

 

-yogamatt

via TheYogaBlog.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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YogaGlo Aims To Patent Their Style Of Filming A Yoga Class?

 

--Via Krista Katrovas

Elephany Joural on Sep 24, 2013

 

 

Yoga was traditionally taught one-on-one—there wasn’t a classroom or a studio.

 

The yoga class, as we know it, didn’t come into existence until the 20th century.

 

Since then, McYoga has boomed and numerous inflated egos and wallets have appropriated the ancient art and lifestyle.

 

These McYoga Fitness studios often prevent teachers from referring to “that elephant god,” (Ganesha) or that “monkey god,” (Hanuman, whom the ancient yogi’s named the “splits,” after). Some also minimize Om (the sacred sound where all life comes from and returns to). Om can be bad for business; it can scare away clientele.

 

McYoga is yoked to the almighty dollar; it is a greed machine that has appropriated the ancient art of yoga.

 

Most people don’t know that the Navajo and Hindu belief systems cherished the Swastika as a holy symbol of good luck. It was cherished long before the Nazis appropriated it and left it in

fected with such evil that one cannot look at that holy symbol anymore without thinking of evil.

 

I’m not saying these appropriating greed machines in the yoga community are anything like that evil; I’m simply suggesting that the appropriation of something wonderful and life-affirming can become so diluted that many will forget the healing traditions unless we continue to honor them.

 

Yoga is meant to be shared, and how this knowledge, this practice is disseminated, should not be patented. Yes, teachers should be honored, should be paid, but the money exchange between a teacher and student should be personal relationship, not a corporate one.

 

Many fail to recognize that the mention of deities is not the promotion of Hinduism, or any faith for that matter, but rather the teaching of yoga relative to its traditions, where it came from before we westerners got ahold of it and began to make it into a mere business. We should not allow yoga to be yet another aspect of the wretched tradition of colonialism.

 

The appropriation of yoga, appropriating its healing aspects without humbling ourselves to its origins, without honoring the Eight Limb Path which is the foundation for all classic yoga practices, is simply wrong.

 

I believe there is a place for all lineages of yoga that are not steeped merely in “fitness” and are not merely a revenue stream. I also believe patenting the way a class is viewed or experienced online is profoundly wrong.

 

The teaching of yoga online is very popular in this busy world of ours, and bringing yoga into the homes of those unable to “make it to class,” is indeed wonderful. But patenting the way in which yoga is taught, how camera angles are set, where the students and teachers will stand, and what the set will look like is contrary to the spirt of yoga.

 

Such a posturing is inauthentic—it is hardly an act of surrendering to the good of all; it is just the opposite. These actions run counter to everything Patanjali codified within the Yamas of the Yoga Sutras.

 

Bikram come to mind. Now YogaGlo is proceeding likewise, it appears.

 

But yoga can’t be owned.

Making the pilgrimage to meet Bikram, after having practiced his “medicine,” for seven years, I witnessed the most greedy, egocentric yogi I’d even encountered. No judgment, just saying. You might know the teacher isn’t your teacher when he or she talks about how many Rolexes and classic cars she or he possesses, and about their having the biggest swimming pool in all of Hollywood.

 

This is not to say that Bikram and other McYoga Fitness studios didn’t create something powerful, even meaningful, but surely patenting yoga is kin to owning something that is not ours to own.

YogaGlo’s present work toward patenting the way they film and offer online classes would greatly affect the future of other teachers who don’t teach for YogaGlo. They would have to refrain from teaching in a classroom style setting, from filming for their own students.

 

I have had the pleasure of teaching yoga abroad for the past five years and have been asked every year if I would film my teachings so that when my students returned to their home states or countries, they could still practice with me through the videos.

 

I don’t feel called to film my teaching, but I also don’t feel called to completely shut myself off from it either if the future need arises. If YogaGlo succeeds with this patent, owning camera angles, and the traditional class structure, thus preventing me and others from filming our classes by virtue of their healthy bank account, and lawsuits, what does this say about YogaGlo, about their disregard for fellow teachers in the greater community?

 

And what about those who continue to dedicate their lives to the dissemination of yoga while honoring the ancient traditions?

 

Let’s not disregard the fundamental teachings. Let us remember asana; it is only one of the Eight Limbs Patanjali spoke of, and in this case, I feel  those Yamas and Niyamas are being violated, and at best, ignored by YogoGlo.

 

I remember watching videos before YogaGlo was a twinkle in the internet’s eye. We Mom n’Pops are already being driven out by the McYoga’s Fitness trend even as local bookstores have been diminished by conglomerates. Now we’re being pushed out online too. Yet, one more avenue on our yogic paths that are being barricaded.

 

If YogaGlo succeeds with their patent on how they offer yoga online, it’s the little guys, you and I, without all the lawyers, money, and fame who will suffer most.

 

Gandhi said, “There is enough for our need, but not enough for our greed,” and sadly this greedy monster exists where we deeply wish it didn’t, within our greater yoga sangha (community).

 

YogaGlo, you can go, and not on my screen, no matter how good your teachers are, because the patent you are working towards enacting would be at the expense of many others, and though I might only be a little yoga teacher, with a small voice, I say with all my breath that I stand in defiance of the greed you currently represent.

 

Join me in a Boycott of YogaGlo until they cease their penchant for greed, as they continue to subtract themselves from the heart-mind, and center rather on the moneymaking aspect of yoga.

 

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