the Central London nlp group

Living NLP The newsletter of the Central London NLP Group Issue 4

US Judge rules on Bandler and NLP ownership
"It will be very hard now for Richard to assert sole ownership of NLP" - Steve Andreas, Real People Press website On 19 May it was ruled that Richard Bandler does not own exclusive rights to the intellectual property involved in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. In the Superior Court of California the Honorable Robert B Yonts Jr. ruled on 9 out of 12 "causes of action" in a lawsuit brought by Bandler and two other people. Bandler had brought the suit against John Grinder and a number of others, including Christina Hall, Steve Andreas and Connirae Andreas. In his Summary Adjudication the judge said that much of the case turned on the ownership of the Society of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (SNLP) and of the intellectual property rights related to NLP. He ruled that, since a group of individuals called the "Bandler Group" bought a corporation called Not Ltd when it went bankrupt in 1983, and since Not Ltd had owned SNLP, then this group of individuals (including Christina Hall), and not Bandler alone, own SNLP. In addition, he ruled that Not Ltd's assets had included the intellectual property rights in NLP, and therefore the same group of people, and not Bandler alone, own these rights. Not Ltd had owned "trademarks, trade names and other proprietary and ancillary rights involved in Neuro-Linguisting Programming". The judge said that "there is evidence that Bandler is a member of the Bandler Group" but has not ruled on whether he is, in fact, a member of the Bandler Group, which now owns the rights involved in NLP. However, members of the group are entitled to conduct NLP seminars and issue certificates, and to "exploit the SNLP for commercial purposes". They "jointly own the intellectual property rights associated with NLP" and "any of them can bring a suit to enforce those rights." The judge did not accept that there were false and misleading claims made by Christina Hall concerning the use of Richard Bandler's name and signature (in connection with SNLP certificates and marketing of seminars) nor that Hall misused Bandler's "name, sponsorship, and identification". Bandler has requested a review of the judge’s Adjudication. Real People Press have published the text of the ruling on the Internet, at http://www.realpeoplepress.com. Disclaimer The writers and editors of Living NLP are not qualified in the law, and this article and the editorial are merely a report on and guide to the Summary Adjudication of 19th May 1999 as we understand it. For a full and proper understanding of the law, readers should consult their legal adviser.
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Electronic mailing list
If you’re on e-mail you might like to join our electronic mailing list so that we can keep you up to date on late-breaking news, special events and so on. Just click here. If you’re already on the list and your e-mail address has changed, please let us know as we’ve recently had some “mail undeliverable” reports.
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Meeting times
Please note that the Group officially meets on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 pm for a 6:50 start. Meetings take place in the Tuke Building at Regent’s College in the Inner Circle, Regent’s Park.
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NLP Fundamentals
Our new introductory sessions are going well with between 15 and 20 people attending. We asked Bob Hallewell to tell us how he felt about leading the first session on May 5. “As a presenter, I always enjoy running sessions at NLP groups. It gives an opportunity to work with a good range of people bringing different levels of experience to the training room - and I enjoy this broader spectrum of participants. Something else I like is the fact that everyone is friendly, open and really wanting to join in - whatever their level - so I take the chance to try out material and an approach that is a little more experimental. Give it a go - and have fun.”
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Calling all groups
We’re expanding the Group’s website and new pages will include links to NLP practice and study groups both in the UK and world wide. If you’d like your group to be listed, e-mail the Group’s webmaster at webmaster@nlpgroup.freeserve.co.uk with contact details. And remember to include your URL if your group has its own website.
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Editorial
When we heard the news about the US Bandler court case, we realised that it could affect the whole of the NLP community, since it has now been ruled that Richard does not have sole rights to NLP. But it’s not that simple. The judge stated that “members of the Bandler Group jointly own the intellectual property rights associated with NLP”. The Bandler Group owns the Society of NLP. Practitioners may be concerned that the ruling could mean only certificates issued by SNLP and members of the Bandler Group are valid. But NLP certificates are recognised by various organisations for different purposes. We have no reason at present to believe that the UK Association for NLP will change their recognition policy as a result of this case. The ruling also seems to suggest that only SNLP and members of the Bandler Group are entitled to conduct NLP seminars, at least in those states and countries governed by the ruling. But at least some of the defendants in the case believe that NLP, and rights in NLP, should be in the public domain. Moreover, the question of whether NLP can be exclusively owned by anyone at all is still open to question. So it’s clearly not all over yet. And Steve Andreas writes on the Real People Press website, “Bandler is asking for a review of this ruling, a process that will take about three months. However, the basis for the ruling is pretty straightforward, and we do not expect the judge to change his ruling.” - Isha and Garry
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What are intellectual property rights?
According to the UK Patent Office, intellectual property rights include patents, registered designs, registered trade marks and copyright. The intention of such rights is to “give legal recognition to the ownership of new ideas or brand names and give the proprietor the right to stop other people exploiting his property”. Such rights can be sold or licensed to others.
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Regent's College accessibility update
Keith Armstrong, a specialist in disability issues and access, has been attending Regent's College for over a year. We asked him to update us on access at the college. "The college is trying to improve its access," Keith said, "but there are glaring gaps." The disabled toilets have sometimes been inaccessible; one passage doorway didn't permit a normal-sized wheelchair and the loo had no working light bulb. Recently a ground-floor loo was deeply flooded and too dangerous to use. One lift designed to have a call button does not actually have one, and finding someone to help find someone else who might be able to find someone to find the key and then actually finding it can take ages. "Why should people have to ask?”, said Keith. “These things can be got right the first time." The college also isn't meeting the needs of the hearing or visually impaired. Keith says that a full access audit is needed at the college. Good access eases use of the building for everybody, including those who have to carry heavy equipment. One irony that many NLPers will appreciate is that a well-known and popular Ericksonian hypnosis course run at the College would have been inaccessible to Milton Erickson! Keith Armstrong is a writer and experienced disabled access consultant. His career has included advising local authorities on design of buildings. He can be contacted on 0207 387 0694.
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Joseph O'Connor
Old faces and new flocked to Joseph O'Connor's session on Healthy Ageing on 25th May. Joseph is the internationally known author of leading books on NLP, including the best-seller Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming with John Seymour, and Principles of NLP and NLP and Health with Ian McDermott. Joseph first asked us to write down how many years we wanted to live, and how long we expect to. We were then each asked to come up with a metaphor for ageing, and to explore the implications of having this particular metaphor. We also addressed our worst fears and best hopes of ageing. At each stage of the evening, Joseph had us share our responses with another person. He rounded off by giving us the steps to changing any limiting beliefs we had about ageing. He reminded us to attend to the positive intention of the existing belief, have another belief with which to replace it and attend to any objections we might have to taking on the new belief. Group programme co-ordinator, Niels Thomas, estimates that 70 to 80 people attended the evening. Thanks, Joseph.
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NLP website watch
Anglo-American Books http://www.anglo-american.co.uk NLP books, tapes and videos	Advanced Neuro-Dynamics http://www.nlp.org Tad James' website	NLP and Neuro-Semantics http://www.learninstitute.com with L Michael Hall
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Committee update
Jacqueline Stevens has left the Committee to devote her time to her hypnotherapy clients and students and her PhD work. Jacqueline recently presented an excellent NLP Fundamentals session on the Milton Model.
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Business-oriented NLP Training
By Ian McLaren, Rapport Magazine's Events Diary Coordinator One of the major changes in NLP in recent years has been the development of specialist courses. NLP started as a model of therapeutic techniques. Now you can attend trainings at all levels, from single day courses to Master Practitioner, where the emphasis is on other fields such as education, health or, in particular, business. Some training companies work purely in a business context. Many of these do not advertise public courses, concentrating on working within individual companies. If you want to set up an internal training scheme in your company, the ANLP office (01384 443935) can provide a list of approved trainers. For individuals, courses with a business emphasis start at the Diploma (4-day pre-Practitioner) level. The Personal Mastery courses (several each year) from Sue Knight Associates in Oxfordshire (01628 667868) leads on to their Leadership for the Future Practitioner certification and Pioneering Excellence which includes Master Practitioner and Trainer training. Similarly, PPD in London (0208 201 3333) offers diploma and Practitioner business qualifications – Leadership and Influence. Some companies offer the INLPTA Business Diploma (a 4-day certified course) – those advertising currently include Key 2 Development in London (01895 272042) and Performance Enhancement Ltd in Hampshire (01489 889000). Other companies start specialised training at a higher level: Q Learning of Henley (01491 414202) have a Leadership in Business Practitioner course, while John Seymour Associates (0117 955 7827) have a Master Practitioner certification in London which allows a business trainer specialisation. All the Practitioner courses mentioned so far are conventional 20+ day trainings. There are also some accelerated courses available. In London, Infinite Breakthrough Technologies (0208 402 1120) offer a 7-day NLP Business Practitioner Training, and McKenna Breen (0207 704 6604) have a three-module Licensed NLP Business Practitioner. There are also many short courses, often one or two days, on specific topics such as Leadership, Influence, Systems Thinking, Coaching, Modelling and Creativity. Some other companies offering these courses include Joyce Chandler Consulting (0208 891 5503) and ITS (0208 442 4133) in London and You & I Training in Coventry (01926 513165). Finally, a couple of overseas courses. The NLP University in California (June to August each year) has business-oriented courses from Practitioner to post-Trainer level (001 831 336 3457). In August, INLPBA (an offshoot of INLPTA) is running a Trainer-level Business Consulting & Performance Enhancement Coaching Training in Munich (call Wyatt Woodsmall on 001 703 757 7945). ANLP 01384 443935 Sue Knight Associates 01628 667868 PPD Personal Development 0208 201 3333 Key 2 Development 01895 272042 Performance Enhancement Ltd 01489 889000 Q Learning 01491 414202 John Seymour Associates 0117 955 7827 Infinite Breakthrough Technologies 0208 402 1120 McKenna Breen 0207 704 6604 Joyce Chandler Consulting 0208 891 5503 You and I Training 01926 513165 NLP University 001 831 336 3457 Wyatt Woodsmall 001 703 757 7945 Ian McLaren is a business coach, INLPTA NLP trainer and author. He is currently doing a modelling project to investigate the way that NLP Practitioners actually use their skills. If you are interested in helping by completing a short questionnaire, please contact him by email on ian.mclaren@cableinet.co.uk or phone or fax him on 0207 354 0010.
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NLP University modelling courses
NLP University in Santa Cruz, California is offering 3 courses, for a variety of levels, from June 25th to July 22nd. Choose from Modeling, Modeling and Research and Advanced Modeling: Projects and Applications. Phone 001 831 336 3457 or e-mail teresanlp@aol.com.
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Training Report
Garry Knight reports on his Practitioner Training with John Seymour Associates What I liked most about my training with John Seymour is that, unlike many other Practitioner trainings at that time, it covered modelling extensively. Most other training companies didn’t teach this until Master Practitioner level. The drawback is, of course, that you can come out of the course feeling that you’ve trained to the level of Master Practitioner, but with only a Practitioner certificate. Since NLP is, at heart, modelling, my own feeling is that it should be the most central part of Practitioner training. As it was with John Seymour Associates. The training took place in Regent’s College, London over twelve weekends, one per month. The first weekend was, in itself, a complete introduction to NLP. The next seven weekends made up the Diploma level training, with a further four weekends taking us to Practitioner level. John led most of the sessions himself and quickly proved to be one of the best trainers I’ve come across. He’s not one for the guru-followers; he just delivers high-quality training, and he does so with an engaging sense of humour. John is co-author, with Joseph O’Connor, of the book Introducing NLP; and in the Practitioner training we got the book and more. And one of the great things about John’s training is that it isn’t aimed at any one sector of the market; it’s for absolutely everyone. John teaches you in such a way that you come out of the training able to generate new distinctions and processes in NLP. And I believe that’s one of the most valuable skills you can learn. John Seymour Associates 0117 955 7827
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Dalston Youth Project wins European Award
The Dalston Youth Project (DYP), which works with disaffected children and young people using NLP, has won a Europe Crime Prevention and Community Safety Award. The Project was the British winner in the European finals. NLP Success The DYP is funded by the Home Office and it was recently decided, at a meeting of Home Office funded programmes, that NLP be adopted as one of their major educational processes. Tony Blair and Jack Straw have attended a session at the DYP in which children were learning the NLP spelling strategy. Teaching children an introduction to NLP Caitlin Walker, one of two NLP trained tutors with DYP, decided from the beginning that she would run her classes just as she would an introduction to NLP for adults. She and Marie Delaney, DYP’s other NLP trained tutor, will be giving in-house NLP training to the volunteers. And, Caitlin says, “all the volunteers and parents are invited to learn with the students.” Caitlin and Marie teach 11-14 year olds; there is a 15-18 year olds’ programme which also welcomes volunteers. Want to get involved? If you’re feeling keen to get involved, both programmes of the Dalston Youth Project always welcome, and actively seek, volunteers. The 15-18 year olds’ programme has not yet been exposed to NLP, so volunteers could be joining Caitlin and Marie in the vanguard of an educational revolution! Phone the Dalston Youth Project: 0208 525 9696
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NLP Millennium Project
The Millennium Project 2000 is happening from July 27 to August 10, 2000. It will be held at the University of California campus in Santa Cruz. The co-ordinators are Robert Dilts, Judith DeLozier and Teresa Epstein. For information phone 001 831 336 3457 or e-mail teresanlp@aol.com.
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NLP Education Network: Summer Conference
The Summer Conference will be held on July 10 in St Albans, Herts. The theme for the Conference is modelling excellence. The cost is £75/£45. Further information on 01727 869782; e-mail NLPednet@new-oceans.co.uk.
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Coming up on the programme
Caitlin Walker, Dalston Youth Project tutor, will be running a session called Effective Conversation on June 29. She also teaches “learning how to learn” in schools, using NLP and Clean Language. NLP trainer John Hicks is at the Group on June 15, leading a session on the Five Elements of Chinese Medicine. Presumably there will be some NLP in there too... Our July 6 NLP Fundamentals session is led by Sheila Neville, who runs NLP courses at City University. The title is Framing and Reframing – the subtle art of changing the meaning of a situation.
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I see what you're saying
"People tend to view sound as not being important - and it doesn't matter how often you show them. I mean, just turn the sound off in a movie and see what you lose." - Beth Wenzel of Nasa Ames Research Center, New Scientist 7/11/98, p.36
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Submitting articles
We welcome articles about the Group and about the NLP community. If you want to contribute to Living NLP, you can send your article by e-mail, in plain text format, Rich Text Format, MS Word (2, 6, 95 or 97) format, Lotus WordPro format, or Windows WordPad format. Alternatively, you can e-mail it in plain text or HTML format to: editor@nlpgroup.freeserve.co.uk.
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