Posted: Wed, Jun 13 2007.
Economy and Politics
India to ask US to stop 'misappropriation' of Yoga system http://www.livemint.com/2007/06/13183109/India-to-ask-US-to-stop-misap.html
The US has allowed 131 patents on yoga devices while no patent has been allowed on 'asanas´ (postures)
PTI
New Delhi: The government on 13 June said it has asked the Indian Ambassador in the US to take up issue of "misappropriation of Yoga system" through the American patent office.
"Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH)...has already written to the Indian Ambassador in Washington to take necessary steps to address the issue of misappropriation of the Indian Yoga system through US Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO)," a Commerce Ministry statement said.
It said while no patent has been allowed on 'asanas´ (postures), the US has allowed 131 patents on yoga devices.
According to a report sent by the US Embassy here to the Commerce Ministry, there are 3,700 trademarks which have been listed in the database of registered and pending trade marks by USPTO.
For preventing blatant commercial misuse of the traditional Indian knowledge, the government is embarking on an ambitious project to translate ancient Sanskrit scriptures in five foreign languages and send them to patent offices globally, particularly in the US and the European Union.
AYUSH has engaged top institutes such as Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga and Kewal Dham of Pune to translate Sanskrit shlokas describing yogic asanas in English, French and German among other languages.
In the first phase, to be completed by December this year, work on 150 asanas will be completed. The plan is to cover 1,500 most commonly used 'kriyas´ and 'asanas´.
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