Health Qigong for Everyone - a Generic Category
Donation protected
Health Qigong is for EVERYONE...
it’s a Generic Category!
Help to protect an ancient health art, so the UK public may continue to benefit.
OBJECTIVE:
This group has been set up because so many qigong teachers are shocked that the generic category descriptor ‘Health Qigong’ has just been successfully Trade Marked (TM) in the UK by one organisation. Many believe that the registration should not have been allowed and needs to be challenged.
It has been Registered with the UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) using the following spellings:
Health Qigong TM; healthqigong TM; HEALTH QIGONG TM; HEALTH QI GONG TM.
We invite your support to challenge this TM in all its spellings, on the legal grounds of ‘Invalidity.’ We believe that ‘Health Qigong’ is a descriptor, a generic term. It should never have been allowed as a TM.
Health Qigong exercises from ANY lineage should be available to EVERYONE, for the health of our nation. Health Qigong should not be monopolised to a few exercises called ‘Health Qigong TM’ from one source.
The aim of this page is to raise funds to pay for a specialist TM attorney to challenge the TM Registration. We are looking to raise £18,000
HISTORY:
The art of qigong comes from Ancient China and comprises 4 main categories, although there are others:
Health Qigong
Martial Qigong
Medical Qigong
Spiritual Qigong
Within the categories are thousands of different, authentic qigong styles that are practised globally. It can take years of dedication, discipline and skill to learn to teach qigong. Once an Instructor has qualified in any form of qigong, it is our belief that he/she should be able to share their passion and expertise with members of the public in the UK, to benefit the health of the nation. No one person or organisation should be allowed to have a monopoly on the generic term Health Qigong.
Officers at the UK Government’ s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) were under the impression that the organisation which Registered the Trade Mark was the only organisation which had been given the sole rights to trade in Health Qigong in the UK. Unfortunately the Registration of the TM affects many people who teach Health Qigong, from different lineages.
Trademarks can be opposed in a period during the application process, but that time has elapsed because people who would have raised objections did not know about the application. Now, threats to sue anyone using the words Health Qigong have been made. This affects qigong teachers significantly. The monopolised Health Qigong TM affects people’s advertising, business name, domain names, facebook pages, course descriptions and the right to publicly explain about the categorisation of qigong.
We are confident that the words Health Qigong are generic and should be freely available for everyone to use.
After alerting the USA that a similar situation may occur, the National Qigong Association (one of largest organisations in the world issued the following statement:
“The following policy statement issued by the National Qigong Association’s Board of Directors, at their June 13, 2019 meeting, regarding current attempts in the United Kingdom to trademark generic Qigong terminology.
Whereas the wording “Health Qigong” or “Qigong for Health” is considered a generic wording for many qigong practices, the NQA finds in the interest of global practice, that these words are a generalized term and therefore cannot be trademarked. “Health Qigong” or “Qigong for Health” are not legally capable of being trademarked in the United States of America.”
It has been overwhelming to see so many qigong instructors so devastated and angry. There are many talented, passionate Health Qigong Instructors, from different lineages of the art, who wish to continue to help the UK public learn Health Qigong and reap its benefits. Many have travelled far and invested thousands of pounds to gain their qualifications from inspirational Masters in this ancient art.
It was disappointing to see the organisation in question announce the following in a leaked document, arguing their reasoning for Trademarking Health Qigong
“... unpaid volunteers, master trainers and world class professors have dedicated thousands of hours of hard work developing and promoting the beautiful gift of Health Qigong to enthusiasts in the UK and the world over.”
Health Qigong, in its many forms and transmitted through many lineages, is indeed a beautiful gift to the world. Many individuals have worked incredibly hard to develop and promote their own skills and systems, but no one organisation has rights of ownership of that gift by trademarking a generic term.
ACTION:
Our quest is to re-unite a community of like-minded people again; to restore some harmony and help heal the hurt from current events. We need to raise sufficient funds so that we can submit evidence and statements to the IPO to overturn the trademark on the grounds of Invalidity. We understand that the same Trademark has been applied for in Europe and has already been overturned in Spain. We will use the funds to engage a specialist Trademark Attorney who also agrees the trademark to be generic terminology. We have to be prepared for our challenge to reach the High Court. That will be an expensive business.
Please help us to return Health Qigong to Everyone, where it rightfully belongs. Help us to help Health Qigong Instructors regain trust and feel valued again. Help us to help the public access the hundreds of UK Health Qigong Instructors from many different lineages, so that more and more of our population may reap the health rewards.
Feel free to leave words of encouragement when you make your donation. Equally, we value your right to contribute anonymously if that is what you prefer. Every little helps and your contribution is hugely appreciated.
PLEASE, if you are making a comment with your donation it is important that you do not mention specific people’s names or organisations. Thank you
Help us to make history!
it’s a Generic Category!
Help to protect an ancient health art, so the UK public may continue to benefit.
OBJECTIVE:
This group has been set up because so many qigong teachers are shocked that the generic category descriptor ‘Health Qigong’ has just been successfully Trade Marked (TM) in the UK by one organisation. Many believe that the registration should not have been allowed and needs to be challenged.
It has been Registered with the UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) using the following spellings:
Health Qigong TM; healthqigong TM; HEALTH QIGONG TM; HEALTH QI GONG TM.
We invite your support to challenge this TM in all its spellings, on the legal grounds of ‘Invalidity.’ We believe that ‘Health Qigong’ is a descriptor, a generic term. It should never have been allowed as a TM.
Health Qigong exercises from ANY lineage should be available to EVERYONE, for the health of our nation. Health Qigong should not be monopolised to a few exercises called ‘Health Qigong TM’ from one source.
The aim of this page is to raise funds to pay for a specialist TM attorney to challenge the TM Registration. We are looking to raise £18,000
HISTORY:
The art of qigong comes from Ancient China and comprises 4 main categories, although there are others:
Health Qigong
Martial Qigong
Medical Qigong
Spiritual Qigong
Within the categories are thousands of different, authentic qigong styles that are practised globally. It can take years of dedication, discipline and skill to learn to teach qigong. Once an Instructor has qualified in any form of qigong, it is our belief that he/she should be able to share their passion and expertise with members of the public in the UK, to benefit the health of the nation. No one person or organisation should be allowed to have a monopoly on the generic term Health Qigong.
Officers at the UK Government’ s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) were under the impression that the organisation which Registered the Trade Mark was the only organisation which had been given the sole rights to trade in Health Qigong in the UK. Unfortunately the Registration of the TM affects many people who teach Health Qigong, from different lineages.
Trademarks can be opposed in a period during the application process, but that time has elapsed because people who would have raised objections did not know about the application. Now, threats to sue anyone using the words Health Qigong have been made. This affects qigong teachers significantly. The monopolised Health Qigong TM affects people’s advertising, business name, domain names, facebook pages, course descriptions and the right to publicly explain about the categorisation of qigong.
We are confident that the words Health Qigong are generic and should be freely available for everyone to use.
After alerting the USA that a similar situation may occur, the National Qigong Association (one of largest organisations in the world issued the following statement:
“The following policy statement issued by the National Qigong Association’s Board of Directors, at their June 13, 2019 meeting, regarding current attempts in the United Kingdom to trademark generic Qigong terminology.
Whereas the wording “Health Qigong” or “Qigong for Health” is considered a generic wording for many qigong practices, the NQA finds in the interest of global practice, that these words are a generalized term and therefore cannot be trademarked. “Health Qigong” or “Qigong for Health” are not legally capable of being trademarked in the United States of America.”
It has been overwhelming to see so many qigong instructors so devastated and angry. There are many talented, passionate Health Qigong Instructors, from different lineages of the art, who wish to continue to help the UK public learn Health Qigong and reap its benefits. Many have travelled far and invested thousands of pounds to gain their qualifications from inspirational Masters in this ancient art.
It was disappointing to see the organisation in question announce the following in a leaked document, arguing their reasoning for Trademarking Health Qigong
“... unpaid volunteers, master trainers and world class professors have dedicated thousands of hours of hard work developing and promoting the beautiful gift of Health Qigong to enthusiasts in the UK and the world over.”
Health Qigong, in its many forms and transmitted through many lineages, is indeed a beautiful gift to the world. Many individuals have worked incredibly hard to develop and promote their own skills and systems, but no one organisation has rights of ownership of that gift by trademarking a generic term.
ACTION:
Our quest is to re-unite a community of like-minded people again; to restore some harmony and help heal the hurt from current events. We need to raise sufficient funds so that we can submit evidence and statements to the IPO to overturn the trademark on the grounds of Invalidity. We understand that the same Trademark has been applied for in Europe and has already been overturned in Spain. We will use the funds to engage a specialist Trademark Attorney who also agrees the trademark to be generic terminology. We have to be prepared for our challenge to reach the High Court. That will be an expensive business.
Please help us to return Health Qigong to Everyone, where it rightfully belongs. Help us to help Health Qigong Instructors regain trust and feel valued again. Help us to help the public access the hundreds of UK Health Qigong Instructors from many different lineages, so that more and more of our population may reap the health rewards.
Feel free to leave words of encouragement when you make your donation. Equally, we value your right to contribute anonymously if that is what you prefer. Every little helps and your contribution is hugely appreciated.
PLEASE, if you are making a comment with your donation it is important that you do not mention specific people’s names or organisations. Thank you
Help us to make history!
Organizer
Jane Launchbury
Organizer
