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Court Rules Pilates Inc,'s Registered Trademarks Generic and Unenforceable.

NEW YORK, October 19, 2000 -- In an ironic twist, the U.S. Dictrict Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that two registered trademarks owned by Pilates Inc. were generic and unenforceable in their lawsuit against alleged infringers.

Pilates Inc. brought a lawsuit against Current Concepts Inc. and Kenneth Endelman alleging trademark infringement for using the Pilates in connection with exercise eqipment and instruction. Pilates Inc. obtained federal tradmark registrations for the mark PILATES in 1986 and 1995.

The central issue at trial was the validity of Pilate Inc.'s trademarks. The Defendants asserted six defenses to plaintiff’s claim of infringement, which included that the marks are generic and the marks were registered fraudulently.

The Manhattan judge ruled Pilates, like yoga and karate, is an exercise method and is not associated with a particlar product or service provider. The judge also ruled that Pilates Inc. obtained its trademark registration in connection with exercise equipment when it fraudulently represented to the United States Patent & Trademark that the company had actually used the mark in connection with exercise equipment it produced and sold under the brand.

During the trial, Romana Kryzanowska was asked what she did for a living. She replied by saying, "I teach Pilates," which damaged Pilate Inc.'s arguments against finding the mark generic. Kryzanowska studied under Jospeh Pilates who is credited as the inventor of Pilates.