Stream Meditation

Another Open Letter to Yogaglo: Last year, many organizations in the wellness community were impacted by Yogaglo’s aggressive campaign of cease & desist letters, which prevented small yoga companies and practitioners from sharing their own classes online.  After the public voiced immense disapproval, , Yogaglo finally forfeited their broad patent claims on filming yoga classes. Despite this appearance of compliance, Yogaglo’s recent behavior suggests that their attitudes of ownership & exclusivity, and strategy of intimidation regarding the universal teachings of this timeless practice – continue today. Yogaglo’s current tactic involves the use of their trademarks to suppress the free exchange not only of yoga-related content, but also all fitness-based content. We, HeartGLO Inc., are one of the unfortunate recipients of their newest wave of aggression. Our is not a competitor to Yogaglo’s online yoga platform. Further, our unique name, HeartGLO, is a prima facie distinctive mark,having already received trademark examiner approval. While the facts support us in fighting our case legally, we write this open letter because, as in the past, there are even larger issues that warrant our collective awareness and discussion.  Besides other businesses in the wellness industry who may also be substantially at risk based on the direct outcome here, there are several fundamental legal, ethical, and social issues implicated by Yogaglo’s pattern of behavior. As this case brings to light some new issues distinct from the patent case, it’s helpful to observe how trademarks and patents are unique areas of law. In patent law, in return for the public benefit gained from a new invention, a company is granted exclusivity as a quid-pro-quo exchange. Even then, antitrust laws prevent Intellectual Property from stifling free-market competition as monopolies are harmful to consumers. In trademark law, where there is no “invention” offered up by the company in exchange forexclusivity, a company is entitled to only nominal protection over their trade name. The right is narrow because no public benefit is conferred besides a new business on the market. Moreover, the government must balance this limited grant with the ability to issue new marks, like ours, when a new business name is distinctive and unlikely to be confused by consumers. Based on these important considerations, a USPTO examiner approved our unique mark – HeartGLO – after a thorough search of existing marks (including Yogaglo, Fitnessglo, etc.). This is why the threshold for blocking another mark is so high. An opposer, like Yogaglo, is required to show the exact opposite of what the trademark examiner already concluded — i.e. that there is a high “likelihood of confusion”. Given that root words are the critically decisive factor in the test of uniqueness, and “heart” is completely different from “yoga” – there is no basis for similarity or confusion in this case. Regardless of these actualfacts, Yogaglo, employing vast legal resources and a demonstrated propensity for litigiousness, could use procedural tactics to delay, fail to comply with their high burden of proof, or otherwise outspend us into a “win”. , and  using its trademark. Returning to the fundamental issues at hand — who really stands to benefit from this “win”? Other companies in the wellness industry certainly do not. In fact, if they are willing to attack us for a similar suffix (a much more tenuous basis for confusion in every case unless you can prove you’re a ubiquitously-known household name like “Toys-r-us” with a truly unique family mark “r-us” — Yogaglo is certainly Not and “glo” is a non-unique suggestive term common to wellness like “glow” “light”, “flow”, etc.), Yogaglo will use a win, artificially-inflating their sphere of rights, to bolster attacks on other companies. Those businesses with common root words like yoga, fitness, and the like, who dare to engage in discussions of the obvious –health & fitness – could be future targets based on this pattern of entitlement. Society does not stand to benefit when we block new value-adding entrants to the market on such a non-compelling basis. Other social and legal issues like freedom-of-speech are also implicated. For instance, how do we feel about a corporation’s limited property right outweighing our first-amendment rights to engage in open discussions on any topic we choose? Even simple blog articles, whose content or name threatens Yogaglo, could fall in this purview. In the present case, this suppression is all the more aggravating as the content in question happens to be part of millennia-old spiritual, religious, and cultural traditions, which by their very nature, are part of the public realm. This ties directly into the cultural and ethical questions raised here: Yoga, though often commercialized, nevertheless remains an intrinsic part of Eastern spiritual philosophy and a cornerstone of religions like Hinduism,Jainism, and others. As with other religions like Christianity or Islam — society cannot justify suppressing the open exchange of content and ideas fundamental to any religious teaching. Even with a high threshold, when is the inequity of such commercial appropriation of spiritual tradition for profit and culture of exclusivity too much to tolerate? It’s all the more offensive given these actions go against the very grain of the philosophies and practices Yogaglo espouses to teach others. Yogaglo, dishonoring yoga with these tactics, uses them as a basis in an attempt to scare us into actually surrendering our unique, meaningful name. HeartGLO was inspired through true yogic practice, symbolizing our heart chakra’s radiance as we integrate mind, body, & soul. Despite our distinctness, and the basis for why we discuss yoga to begin with, Yogaglo’s aggressive lawyer has told us they’ll not engage in any compromise. Interestingly, we are also not in any way a commercial competitor toYogaglo. In complete contrast to their fee-for-subscription yoga classes, our integrative health startup spent years researching and creating . Based on neuroscience, functional medicine, and , HeartGLO features six-wellness pillars: Nutrition, Sleep, Activity, Stress-Management, Meditation, and Breathing. By emphasizing preventative measures and , we empower individuals to create healthy foundations. Unlike simply filming & charging for online yoga, we’ve worked hard to build a system that consumers, doctors, patients, employers and insurers alike can really benefit from — whether as lifestyle modification tool or in everyday wellness management.  Critically, we should observe that no consumer will ever visit or purchase our app because they are interested in taking an online yoga class. Likewise, no consumer in need of a holistic health tracker would find Yogaglo able to deliver on this. As this case is unjust, raising such fundamental questions including corporate entitlement,society’s benefit from free market competition, public freedom-of-speech rights, appropriation of spiritual practice to block open dialogues — please help us build awareness by talking about these important subjects. We humbly ask you to get involved, share this story, and compassionately engage with us so that our collective voice can be heard in harmony. As in the past case, we should stand together to hold Yogaglo accountable for their pattern of behavior and the critical questions they implicate. Yoga is the powerful legacy of my ancestors, who created not only these practices, but also the Vedic philosophies from which the physical embodiment of yoga descends. Translating into “Union with the Divine or Universe” — than one company’s profit-share or market-cap. Yoga doesn’t belong to Yogaglo or to any company.  Rather, it’s our collective inheritance and shared responsibility to uphold.  As these practices comprise the core of my own abilities — as an ethical lawyer, compassionatehealth practitioner, and social entrepreneur —  I owe the yogic tradition an eternal debt of gratitude and honor what it represents: righteousness, truth, human kindness, universal exchange, and mindful conscious growth. If yoga means this or something meaningful to you too, and if you feel compelled by any of the many issues at play here, please share this letter with friends and family and join our conversation.  At HeartGLO,  on a dharmic mission to heal and empower everyone we can by making our integrative system accessible to all. Our premium is just 99-cents, and our site, complete with , is free. As society requires passionate ideas, innovations that benefit human health, and compassionate exchange to evolve — help us foster these yogic ideals and the powerful healing work we’ll do life-long as HeartGLO with your support.  Yours Truly, Aarti Arianna Rama, Pharm.D., Esq. Founder & CEO, HeartGLO Inc. Find us on twitter:  — Join the conversation #YogaforAll