Maskai Furuya has applied to the Japan Patent Office (JPO) to trademark the Thai phrase and his English translation, "Rusiedutton", for his Thai massage and yoga business.

Rusie Dut Ton ("Hermit Body Twists") refers to a style of posture-based Thai exercise that can be traced back to the reign of King Rama I.

Although Furuya's company website purports to promote the exercise as Thai massage, along with pictures of the postures, there are concerns that anyone else trying to use the term, especially operators of Thai massage businesses, will be prohibited from doing so.

"We can't let that happen, as everybody knows Rusie Dut Ton belongs to Thais. It can be traced back to the era of King Rama I," said Public Health Minister Pinij Charusombat.

Pinij said that if the trademark has actually been registered, the Thai government must talk to Japan.

Traditional and Alternative Medicine Development Department director-general Wichai Chokewiwat said the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) sent a letter opposing the trademark registration to the JPO yesterday.

He said that while the Thai government only had until Monday to voice its opposition, they still had up to five years to petition the JPO to cancel the registration, if it had already approved it.

However, the latter case would require a complicated and expensive legal process, he said.

He also said that it was unclear whether Furuya had asked for registration of the name as a trademark or copyright. But the documents seemed to indicate that trademark registration was more likely, he said.

The DIP will be the main agency handling the case, with the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Development Department supplying information and representatives for discussions, he said.

He said Thailand should win the case as there was plenty of evidence that the exercise had been practised in Thailand since King Rama I renovated Wat Phra Chetuphon Vimolmangkalararm Rajvoramahaviharn, or Wat Po, where 80 sculptures can be seen showing many of the 127 postures used in the exercise.

He said that Furuya's move to trademark such a part of Thai culture showed how valuable and popular Thai intellectual property was abroad.

National Research Council of Thailand secretary-general Anond Bunyaratvej said the council registered its opposition to the registration application through the Thai Embassy in Tokyo.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinonth said the ministry was informed by a Tourism Authority of Thailand office on April 28 that it had found JPO announcements of the rights of Furuya's company to use the trademark in teaching Thai massage and yoga in newspapers and magazines since April 18.

The Thai Embassy in Tokyo complained to the Japanese foreign ministry and talked to the JPO, he said, adding that other Japanese companies doing the same business had also opposed the trademark registration.