商標之爭

The Pilates Method And a Trademark Feud

This letter is regarding the Jan. 9 article "Old Fitness Plan Finds a New Clientele." The Institute for the Pilates Method is a membership organization for Pilates teachers worldwide, and we wish to call your attention to the following information.

There are a minimum of 500 Pilates Method studios in the United States -- at least 30 in the New York City area alone. Institute Advisory Board Member Kathleen Stanford Grant, the only individual ever certified by Mr. Pilates, taught Pilates at Bendel's for 16 years and has been teaching at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts since 1988.

Additionally, there are more than 50 Pilates Method studios in Canada, Europe, Singapore and Thailand.

As the article indicated, "Pilates" is simply the surname of Joseph Pilates, a gentleman long deceased, who developed a series of exercises and techniques for physical conditioning of the human body more than 70 years ago.

Over the years, a great many practitioners -- fitness trainers, body work specialists, chiropractors, dancers and others -- have adopted, used and taught the techniques developed by Mr. Pilates. These techniques are universally referred to as the "Pilates" method. In 1980, Doubleday & Company published a book on Mr. Pilates' techniques, called "The Pilates Method." Our organization is composed of practitioners and supporters of the Pilates method throughout the United States and foreign countries.

Unfortunately, a now-defunct company named Healite obtained service mark registrations in the United States Patent and Trademark office for the words "Pilates" and "Pilates Studio." Sean Gallagher supposedly purchased registrations from Healite, and he is now using his claimed ownership in an attempt to browbeat others into paying him a "license" fee for the privilege of using the generic word "Pilates."

We have retained counsel who have filed a petition for cancellation in the Patent and Trademark Office, seeking to cancel Mr. Gallagher's registrations on grounds that the marks are generic terms, that the registrations were obtained and maintained by fraud and that any rights which Healite could ever have possessed were abandoned long ago. JOAN BREIBART Institute for the Pilates Method Santa Fe, N.M.

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 23, 1994, Section WC, Page 13 of the National edition with the headline: The Pilates Method And a Trademark Feud.

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/23/nyregion/l-the-pilates-method-and-a-trademark-feud-958999.html

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普拉提方法和商標之爭

這封信是關於 1 月 9 日的文章“舊健身計劃找到新客戶”。普拉提方法研究所是全球普拉提教師的會員組織，我們希望提請您注意以下資訊。

美國至少有 500 家普拉提方法工作室——光是紐約市地區就至少有 30 家。學院顧問委員會成員Kathleen Stanley Grant 是唯一獲得普拉提先生認證的個人，她在Bendel's 教授普拉提16 年，並自1988 年起在紐約大學 Tisch 藝術學院任教。 ，還有50 多家的普拉提方法在加拿大、歐洲、新加坡和泰國設有工作室。

正如文章所指出的，「普拉提」只是一位已故紳士Joseph Pilates 的姓氏，他在70多年前開發了一系列用於調理人體身體的練習和技巧。

多年來，許多從業者——健身教練、健身專家、脊椎按摩師、舞者等——都採用、使用和教授普拉提先生所發展的技術。這些技術通常被稱為「普拉提」方法。 1980年，Doubleday & Company出版了一本關於普拉提先生技術的書，名為《普拉提方法》。我們的組織由遍布美國和國外的普拉提方法的實踐者和支持者組成。

不幸的是，一家名為 Healite 的現已解散的公司在美國專利商標局獲得了“Pilates”和“Pilates Studio”一詞的服務商標註冊。據稱，Sean Gallagher 是從 Healite 購買了註冊權，現在他正利用自己聲稱的所有權，試圖威逼其他人向他支付“許可”費，以獲得使用通用詞“普拉提的特權。

我們聘請了律師，他們已向專利商標局提交了取消請求，尋求取消 Sean Gallagher 先生的註冊，理由是這些商標是通用術語，這些註冊是通過欺詐獲得和維持的，並且Healite 可以享有的任何權利曾經擁有的，早已被拋棄。JOAN BREIBART Institute for the Pilates Method Santa Fe, N.M.