Trademarking style names

[Su Lin]

Just wondering if anyone had come across this before. Over here in the UK Lau Gar has been trademarked, so essentially anyone practising it outside the BKFA shouldn't really be using the name.
Has anyone experienced this in kung fu , with different associations maybe?

[SPJ]

Dun know much about the legal aspects.

However, MA is dynamically evolving over time with practitioners of each generation. Meaning new interpretations, new moves or modifications will be added on or dropped etc.

Each teacher may start a new substyle/version of the same original forms/postures. Naming the same posture may be veried, too. Over time, it will be very different from the original then a new branch is thus formed.

For example, penetraing palm with squatting stance or Pu Bu Chuan Zhang is the generic name.

Some called it Golden Dragon Enters the Sea or Jing Long Ru Hai.

Some called it Sparrow Flying over the water or Yang Zhi Cao Shui.

Some called it --

So trademarking some names may not mean much.

Just some thoughts.

:D

[Su Lin]

interesting, it's the style name that's been trademarked though.Apparently, that means that there shouldnt be schools using the name Lau Gar, nor should tshirts etc be printed or used by other clubs. Essentially its saying that the name Lau Gar shouldnt be used by anyone who isnt authorised to do so by the association.

[SPJ]

If you trademark something, you have to define what it means, includes or excludes.

This would limit the interpretations and broadening/adding/modifying things/moves/postures over time.

In this sense, it may not be a good idea.

:confused:

[SPJ]

interesting, it's the style name that's been trademarked though.Apparently, that means that there shouldnt be schools using the name Lau Gar, nor should tshirts etc be printed or used by other clubs. Essentially its saying that the name Lau Gar shouldnt be used by anyone who isnt authorised to do so by the association.

In that sense, yes. by all means.

Some people even trademark their personal names.

:eek:

[Su Lin]

Yep I agree. Trying to find out more info on what's included or excluded.
Wondered if this had been done elsewhere in the world, as I do find it slightly concerning.
I understand that Masters dont want other schools to teach the style badly or to bring the style into disrepute, but it's the first time I have heard of it for a martial art.

[Su Lin]

Interesting...just read one of KFM articles http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=398 and Shaolin may be tradmarked too.
Interesting artcile btw.

[GeneChing]

Trademarking martial arts names is always dicey. If it's a new martial art, like say TaeBo, it's easy to do. If it's something older, something traditional, it's a little trickier. You might look into past cases. Probably the most intriguing would be GM Leung Ting's effort to trademark Wing Tsun. I touched on that in another old cover story from 2003 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=292).

[Su Lin]

I agree. The thing is that the Lau Gar lineage is somewhat foggy too. I was actually annoyed recently , by something that is kind of related.
The authority I work for have been doing an "active at work" programme, whereby they are joining up with the NHS to try and get those who dont excercise taking part in activities at lunch time etc. I wasn't really interested as I train 5 times a week ,so work is a kind of rest!
However, they were offering Tai Chi , so I thought I would sign up, as thought it would be interesting to try as I dont get chance to go in the evenings from training kung fu.
I received the email after I signed up , form a young girl, must be early 20's , with details, she then said that she would be taking the sessions.
Being interested I emailed back to ask how long she had being doing Tai Chi and where she had trained etc. I was then disappointed that she hasn;t actually ever done Tai Chi, but a system called Body Balance, which is a mix of Yoga and Pilates with a tiny tiny bit of Tai Chi thrown in.
I pointed out that the session wasn;t actually Tai Chi, which she agreed with. She then replied that Body Balance is a TM , so it was too expensive to get a licence and that she had no cash to pay instructors, thats why she was doing it.
It disappointed me that to avoid paying the licence fee they had taken the Tai Chi name and sold it as that, and the people doing the classes my not even know.
She then asked if I would like to take some MA lessons in the future , to which I said no, as I'm not qualified to do so!
I suppose this points out the merits of trying to trade mark something, but also an ignorance too.

[BlueTravesty]

non-affiliated schools could always call it "Liu Jia." :D Different spelling and pronunciation for the same words. That "two main dialects with a couple dozen sub-dialects each" hurdle is a hard one for copyright hogs to jump :)

[Su Lin]

That's an interesting point!

[BlueTravesty]

no problem there either, you could just change to "Sil Lum Liu Jia" (Sil Lum being cantonese for "Shaolin" and "Liu Jia" being Mandarin for "Lau Gar.) Sure it seems contradictory, but this is Chinese Martial Arts we're talking about!

[Su Lin]

Good thinking there! :p

[The Xia]

If it's a new martial art, like say TaeBo, it's easy to do.
TaeBo calls itself a martial art? :eek: