Can You Patent Yoga?

Indian government has made a list of over 1500 asanas and made over 250 videos to classify them as “traditional knowledge” of India, according to India Times. The initiative is a response to multiple attempts of foreign corporations to capitalize on yoga by getting patents and trademarks on yoga asanas and techniques.

According to Archana Sharma, head of the agency running the project, it will take five to six months to complete the work. The database will include texts, photos, and videos of “yoga techniques.”

Yoga is a $27 Billion industry and a big business, associated with a premium lifestyle, designer yogawear, luxury retreats and expensive juice cleanses. In the past decade, several patents have been issued for yoga techniques. Some have been copyrighted. For example, there’s been an attempt to get patents for neem and turmeric, plants widely used in Ayurveda. “Yoga piracy” is a term used to describe claiming copyrights on yoga-related knowledge and techniques, normally considered to be within the public domain. Fitness centers and individual practitioners already tried to get copyrights on yoga poses and pranayama breathing sequences.

TKDL, an acronym for the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, is a special government agency in India that is taking on a bold mission of “de-commercializing” the ancient practice. Hopefully, they will succeed, or your next stop-drop-and-yoga or “beyond the mat” Instagram challenge may well be beyond your legal control.