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Ramdev asks Govt to safeguard patent on Yoga

          Jatia Devi (Himachal Pradesh): Yoga expert Ramdev has appealed to the Government to counter the US patent office's move to grant patent to American firms for yoga. "As far as India's role in the case is concerned, all yoga institutions should work in tandem, and the Government should work on the issue with them. The Government should take it up in the national interest, in the human interest and the interest of the poor. The West is noticing the worldwide drift towards Yoga. They are trying now at the individual level. Soon, countries will take it upon themselves to grab patent rights of heritages like yoga and ayurveda," Ramdev said at a yoga camp here. Terming it as an act of fraud, he said that nobody could patent Yoga, or the practice of Pranayam. "We will work towards making sure that the Indian Government takes the patent or gives the patent to our society", Ramdev had said earlier. Yoga is an ancient school of Hindu philosophy that prescribes physical and mental disciplines for attaining oneness with the supreme being.

          Till date, the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted 150 yoga-related copyrights, 134 patents on yoga accessories, and 2,315 yoga trademarks. Members of Parliament (MPs) have also slammed the US patenting authority for its moves on yoga. In response, the Government has set up a task force to create a database of yoga techniques in order to stop others from patenting the centuries-old knowledge. This information will be made available in five languages so that patent offices around the world can access it and know that it originated in India. Yoga has been practiced in India for thousands of years, but the government is becoming increasingly concerned that people are trying to earn money from part of their cultural heritage. Ramdev has popularised yoga across the world with claims of the ancient knowledge curing illnesses ranging from cancer to AIDS through breathing exercises and traditional medicines. The US had earlier patented turmeric in March 1995 to two non- resident Indians associated with the University of Mississipi Medical Centre, Jackson, USA. However, the US Patent Office revoked the turmeric patent after New Delhi-based Council for Agriculture Research (CSIR) challenged it. It was challenged on the grounds that it lacked novelty, as turmeric has been used for thousands of years for healing wounds and rashes.
- May 18, 2007