No copyright for ‘Solicitor at a Desk’ yoga position

Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court, demonstrates his mastery of I-Can-Read-Text-at-This-Distance. Baroness Hale is impressed.

IP Draughts is relieved to hear that the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has recently rejected the appeal of Bikram Chaudhury in the case of Bikram’s Yoga College of India LP v Evolution Yoga LLC No. 13-55763, D.C. No. 2:11-cv-05506-ODW-SS.

Millionaire yoga guru Chaudhury is famous for his ‘hot yoga’ classes, in which the room is heated to 40 degrees Centigrade. According to newspaper reports, he leads the classes wearing nothing but a pair of Speedos® and a Rolex®. In this case he sought to prevent his former pupils from teaching approximately two dozen yoga positions that he had invented. The court decided, unsurprisingly, that there is no copyright in a yoga position.

Readers may not be aware that, in his spare time, IP Draughts has been developing his own set of yoga moves. The IP Draughts system of yoga is typically conducted at 20 degrees Centigrade, wearing Smart Casual™ clothing, though it can be done in Speedos® and a Rolex® if no-one is watching. Remember to switch off the camera on your computer.

The best-known move in the IP Draughts system is his Solicitor at a Desk™ position, which involves sitting on a fake Charles Eames chair in a slightly hunched position, leaning forward with fingers moving on a keyboard, while squinting at a computer screen. Other moves include Collecting a Draft Agreement from the Printer™, and Bending Down to Plug in the Headset for a Skype® Call™.