i want to start Develop my own fitness program so i want to know how to secure myself from stolen my program?
I do not believe you can keep others from providing a similar program to yours. You can copyright/trademark a name for a program and no one can use that name without your consent. And you can patent equipment designs if you can prove that the design is unique and not in existence. But to my knowledge it is not possible to claim the rights to teach a specific exercise. There are named cycling classes, but these programs can’t stop someone from teaching a stationary bike class. There are named kickboxing class formats, etc. But as long as I don’t call my class by a copyrighted name, I can teach anything I want. I could even by the same equipment if it is for public sale and use it in the class. I just can’t use the trademarked name to promote the class.
I could be wrongj, but that is my understanding of this topic. You might want to speak with a copyright/trademark lawyer about it.
Like Martin said, there is pretty much nothing you can do to keep others from teaching an exercise or a program without your consent. You can copyright a name or an equipment, but anyone can use the method or a similar equipment as yours and name it something else. You can write a book about it or start charging money to teach your program and idea to other trainers (or create a certification).
For example CrossFit or even a brand name like Orangetheory fitness. The principles and core philosophies behind these two commercialized ideas are not new. I used to be trained like a CrossFit athlete long before the name CrossFit came to the scene. And the philosophy and type of workouts/training Orange Theory is promoting I have been using to train clients long before it become a “philosophy” (which I’m sure the majority of the trainers who have been around for many years have also done). In other words, they are “old” news. I wish I could have thought of trademarking those workouts first with a clever name like their owners did and make a ton of money.
Hi Mohamed,
I’m with the others on this. Pretty much all the training methods you see today have been around for a long time. Except today, they just have catchy names attached to them. You can’t put a claim on training methods but you certainly can protect a name of a program if it’s not already protected legally by someone else. As Martin suggested, be sure to consult a trademark/patent attorney when that time comes. Good luck Mohamed.
Paul Thomas
www.homeworkoutguy.com
Do you have a program that you want to sell to others, using your brand name? That, in my opinion, is the reason to trademark a brand name.
It’s very hard to copyright a workout. Dancers can copyright pieces of choreography, but it’s a long series of unique steps assembled in a specific order.
People use my dance choreography all the time, since I mentor other instructors. What they can never replicate is ME. It’s not just my moves, it’s how I deliver them, break them down, the energy I project, etc. So perhaps consider how much of your workout is your unique methodology and movements, versus how much is simply YOU. You may not need either a trademark or a copyright.