Balance Ball
Trademark: Balance Ball
First Used: 2000
First Registered: 2002
Current Owner: SEQUENTIAL HOLDCO LLC (Gaiam)
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark
Primarily Associated With: exercise equipment, namely, a large ball used in exercise routines to promote health and fitness [2]
Generic Phrase: exercise ball, as in BALANCE BALL® brand exercise ball
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:
Exercise ball, Swiss ball, stability ball, fitness ball, physio ball, physical therapy ball, yoga ball, Pilates ball, gym ball, workout ball, core ball, or countless other variations. No matter what generic name you call it, you have undoubtedly encountered them at gyms around the world.
In the world of fitness gear, the humble exercise ball has surprisingly international roots. The modern exercise ball was born in Italy in the early 1960s, when toymaker Aquilino Cosani developed a durable, burst-resistant PVC ball he called the “Original Pezzi GymnastikBall.” European physical therapists quickly adopted it for neuro-developmental therapy, especially in Switzerland, which is why Americans later began calling it the “Swiss ball.” By the 1980s and 1990s, the exercise ball had migrated into mainstream fitness, Pilates, and yoga studios, praised for its ability to challenge balance, strengthen core muscles, and support low-impact rehabilitation.
Founded in Boulder, Colorado in 1988, Gaiam is a provider of yoga, fitness, and wellness products. Gaiam introduced the Balance Ball brand of exercise balls in 2000, and the word mark was first registered as a trademark in 2002. Although the Balance Ball brand has now been around for over 25 years, unfortunately Gaiam does not provide any public information about the origins and history of the brand. Let us know if you find something!
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[1] Balance Balls, GAIAM, https://www.gaiam.com/collections/balance-balls.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,532,828, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75882745&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] A Brief History of the Swiss Ball, PHYSICAL CULTURE HISTORY, posted January 4, 2016, and available at https://physicalculturestudy.com/2016/01/04/a-brief-history-of-the-swiss-ball/; History of the Stability Ball, BALANCE ON THE BALL, posted November 19, 2019, and available at https://balanceontheball.com/history-of-the-stability-ball/.