The Hindu Business Line : Practise yoga using patented devices

After gurus like Maharshi Mahesh Yogi and Hollywood stars like Jane Fonda popularised the ancient Indian practice of yoga to maintain sound health in the Western world in the decades after 1960, it is now the turn of patent seekers to give it yet another boost.

A series of patents granted in the US and other Western countries since 2000 throw some interesting light on yoga. Though questions about the threat to claims of patenting of its practice have been raised, the eastern magic of yoga is well and truly getting attention.

First, the big positive from the increasing interest in yoga has led to development of a range of devices that help people perform the yogic exercises much more easily, according to an analysis of patents done by the Patent Facility Centre (PFC), under the Technology Information Forecasting Assessment Council (TIFAC).

For example, a US patent granted in 2003 involves a special mat used for performing yoga. It can be rolled up tightly and held close by straps. Most practitioners know that for outdoor yoga classes a cloth sheet is spread on the ground for performing the exercises.

Carrying a loose sheet is not very convenient. It becomes more inconvenient if other things are also to be carried. The US patent brings in convenience of carrying and utility for yoga practitioners, said the TIFAC study.

Another patent refers to the design of a chair that facilitates a straight sitting posture of the user with cross legs - a typical yogic posture.

The chair has a seat raised on both sides, which is wider towards the front and adapts to the contour of the body resulting from the cross-legged posture.

Other design features ensure that the person can comfortably sit in the desired position. For beginners, who find it difficult to get into this posture, it is a handy device.

In the US alone, a total of 27 patents dealing with various applications and including yoga in the claims have been found by the TIFAC.

Claims include devices, apparatus, software systems, yoga mats, etc.

Interestingly, no claim has been found on patenting yogic exercises per se, the study said.

Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Russia and Taiwan are important countries where similar patent claims related to yoga have been made in the recent years.

While the claims do not lay stake on yoga per se (yogic exercises are well known and well documented and hence cannot be candidates for patenting), the range of inventions would actually help in popularisation of yoga, as many people will find the exercises much simpler to perform with the help of these devices.

In fact, systems developed to monitor body parameters while performing yoga could help in reinstating the scientific basis of this ancient practice, the TIFAC said.

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Practise yoga using patented devices