TMT Law Practice advised pro bono and won for spiritual guru Osho’s Pune-based organisations. The organisations - Osho Friends International and Osho World Foundation – succeeded in dissolving all existing and pending Osho trademarks of their Swiss copycat Osho International Foundation (OIF) and in getting OIF’s entire board of directors recalled.

OIF was advised by Davis & Gilbert LLP and Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe advised Osho Friends International.

TMT founding partner Abhishek Malhotra acted for Osho Friends and Osho World against OIF, which had tried to impose restrictions on the use of Osho’s name among all followers of Osho, who wanted to set up centres to disseminate Osho’s teachings.

Malhotra also assisted an Osho Friends’ member in proceedings initiated in Switzerland to recall OIF’s board of directors and to appoint an administrator for further management of the Osho Foundation.

Davis & Gilbert partners Mary M Luria and Sara Edelman acted for OIF.

Piper Marbury partner Mark I Feldman acted for Osho Friends International.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board observed in its order:

“[…] Osho did not recognize or use OSHO as a trademark, but rather […] he used and authorized others to use his name as a generic term for his teachings and meditations rather than as a trademark to identify a single source for goods or services related to such teachings and meditations. As a result, this evidence weighs in favor of genericness.”

“Based upon the testimony and evidence of record, we find that the primary significance of OSHO is as a religious or meditative movement, and not as a source identifier for goods or services. Further, the evidence outlined above demonstrates that OSHO is understood by the public to refer to these meditation techniques as well as the meditative and religious movement that developed around them.”

Picture by Fraboof