Frequently Asked Questions

Does it cost anything to be be a member of the IA Practitioner Community?

No – to be a member of the community is free, if you have already been certified in an Interior Alignment Certification program. You only need to read and sign the Practitioner level license agreement and invitations to join the e-group and facebook community will be sent to you.

Can I use the IA logo and words Interior Alignment® in my marketing without signing the license agreement?

No, you would not be able to use the logo or the words Interior Alignment® in your marketing without signing the agreement.

Why are we asked to sign a license? 

In order to protect all of us, Denise Linn obtained the trademark ‘Interior Alignment(R)’ for our methods and process of feng shui and space clearing. This allows those trained and certified in the Interior Alignment practices to use this name in conjunction with these services, and no one else would be able to take that away. In return, we ask that practitioners use the trademarked name and logo  in conjunction with their Interior Alignment consultations/services, and not their business name or any other service or good they might provide.

How do we use the Yahoo e-group and Facebook social Network?

The Yahoo e-group will be the home of supporting the IA Community through email, giving you the practitioner the way to ask questions and sharing information with your community members. The vision for this yahoo group is  great way to ask questions and share information about our businesses, feng shui and space clearing; continue to be a way to help us provide support for each other. It’s benefits are that questions and answers here are stored online in yahoo, and you can go into the archive and search on a subject and find a wealth of information. We also keep files for practitioners in the yahoo files section.

The Facebook private IA community is a way for us to each have more spontaneous connection with each other, in a more informal way. Feel free to post what you like here, It’s fun. With Facebook,we allow you to post and market your cool stuff to other members of the community. And it’s a great place for topic discussions, and sharing photos of consultations situations to get other insights to spaces.

What does the IA License agreement say in plain English please?

INTERIOR ALIGNMENT® PRACTITIONER LICENSE AGREEMENT Overview

The license agreement is between you–the practitioner–and the Interior Alignment LLC organization on how the trademarked words associated with Interior Alignment (IA) –its logo and its practices–can be used and represented in the world.

As the owner of the licensed words or logos ( call the ‘Marks’), the Interior Alignment, LLC and Denise Linn Seminar authorizes you–the trained and certified practitioner who has taken the Interior Alignment® course(s)–to use its words, logo and intellectual property for your marketing and your services.

The license does not grant you exclusive use of the ‘Mark’s or ‘Intellectual Property’, as other IA practitioners have the same rights. It DOES grant you the ability to use these words to describe your training, the type of consultation you perform, and to use the logo in this marketing. It does not give you the right to associate the words or logo with any other product or service you may be offering (for example, no Interior Alignment® massages, or Seven Star Blessing Space Clearing™ Sprays for sale).

The ‘Marks’ you are granted to use are based on the level of certification you have received. As you complete other IA Advanced and Medicine Wheel Feng Shui classes in the future, you may have access to additional words and marks for your use.

This practitioner level agreement is free, and will last as long as either party wishes. If the agreement between you and IA, LLC is terminated, you must discontinue the use of the IA ‘Marks’.

While there is no fee associated with this agreement, there are quality standards for the usage of the ‘Marks’, and ethical business standards which all those who wish to be called Interior Alignment® Community Practitioners must agree and adhere to. This means: use the logo and the ‘Marks’ as outlined by IA, LLC (such as font type, logo appearance, official colors, and not associating the ‘Marks’ with any other product or service).

The Code of Ethics is your agreement to abide by the following practices when working with Interior Alignment® Clients and Students:

• You will maintain an ethical, compassionate and professional relationship with clients and peers,
• In the case where you offer a variety of feng shui and other services, you will clearly delineate which of your services are INTERIOR ALIGNMENT® practices, and when hired for those services will follow the methods and teachings in the INTERIOR ALIGNMENT® manual.
• Adhere to guidelines for conduct and personal marketing using the Marks;
• you will practice the embodiment of IA principals of generosity of spirit within the IA community and in all client interactions.

Interior Alignment®, LLC will be responsible for safeguarding the ‘Marks’, making sure that everyone who is using them is an authorized user, and that IA’s good name and good will in the public continues to grow.

You,  the practitioner, acknowledge that these ‘Marks’ are yours to use, and non-transferable, and will keep your information current with the organization to keep the communications flowing.  You also acknowledge that if there is a trademark infringement is not corrected in a timely manner,  that the IA organization has the right to ask for your IA materials to be returned.

Interior Alignment® is a unique method of working with ancient feng shui principals. These unique methods are consider part of IA’s Intellectual Property or ‘IP’. The way IA practitioners perform consultations and market their services and the IA organization are also considered ‘IP’.  This means that the IA Practitioner Manual, advanced manuals and other teaching and marketing materials may not be used for non-authorized IA courses, workshops or services.

If you wish to create your own feng shui or space clearing courses, the materials must not be based on the IA principals or materials. This also means that if you wish to offer certification to others in these practices your training must be SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT than Interior Alignment®’s methods and training. Even then, there should be a two-year period after severing your connection with Interior Alignment® before launching a competing certification program.

You agree that any and all liability from your business is not the responsibility of Interior Alignment, LLC or anyone associated with IA, LLC.

If you have a disagreement with the IA, LLC, that cannot be resolved with communication with the IA Foundation Council, mediation may occur with WIPO mediation rules in Los Angeles, CA.

This agreement supersedes all prior agreements or understandings, and may not be modified in any way without the consent of both parties. This is not a joint venture or a franchise. Neither party will be considered in breach of their obligations until they notify the other party about the area of concern.

How will we maintain continued excellence for the Interior Alignment® “brand”? According to our lawyer, “monitoring the brand” is a part of our responsibility.   We ask that all IA’er be diligent in their marketing materials noting the words Interior Alignment® with the ® symbol, and that the logo be used as is, without changing it or adding text to it.

What is the structure of the IA LLC and who are the members of IA LLC?
Denise Linn is the sole proprietor owner of the LLC. The Foundation Council is a small rotating volunteer group of practitioners and teachers who assist with the administration aspects of Interior Alignment. LuAnn CIbik is the Foundation Council Administrator, and coordinates all the activities within IA.

Under License of the Marks based on Certification Levels achieved  I don’t see any reference to MTIA or MEIA.  Is that somewhere else?

Yes, using those licensed marks in your advertising are available for those signing the Teacher level agreements. Teachers can choose to sign and pay for these membership levels for the times that they are going to be teaching a certification program. You can view these licenses from the Practitioner only pages, from the navigation tabs on the right.

On page 5 under Code of ethics Quality standards  Licensee agrees to participate in such further educational and instructional programs as may be established from time to time… does this mean that if I sign the agreement that I have no choice regarding attendance and or participation in future educational offerings?

Again, legal language is confusing. this statement is not to require you to attend further advanced training’s or take any course that costs any money.  This statement is a part of the a standard license agreement and was explained to us that is helps cover us in circumstances where we would find a need to have everyone become aware of a new practice or new law regarding our practice. While we don’ foresee this occurring, it’s a standard line in these agreements. For a crazy example, if we found out that there could be serious legal repercussions in doing a ceremony in someone’s living room using sage, and the organization needed to assure that Interior Alignment® Practitioner’s were aware of what were appropriate space clearing offerings. through a phone conference or reading educational material. This is not to enforce that people have to take any further education or courses, or to incur additional education expenses.

How can I become certified in Medicine Wheel Feng Shui™  if I already have the AIA certification?  When Denise originally taught the AIA classes, she has a very organic teaching style, and each class was different based on the needs of the students in each class. Once other teachers became the teachers of Advanced, creating a standard curriculum for the course became important. Denise took several months in 2008 to create a standard AIA course, with a new component of Medicine Wheel Feng Shui. Since the new AIA course has a different structure and materials than the courses in previous years, a practitioner would need to attend this new course in order to attain the Medicine Wheel  certification (however, if you have already taken an Advanced IA course you are already an Advanced Practitioner and can use the AIA designation.). The new AIA/MWFS courses began in 2009. It contains more indepth information about Southern Hemisphere energy and it’s special bagua, information on working with ghosts and various protection methods, and much more than was not available before.

Protecting the name of Interior Alignment:  How will you be protecting the people who are currently trained/certified IA professionals? How will you protect the practices of the practitioners and teachers who have already paid to be certified and already have permission to use the material and offer/advertise IA services?

Practitioners are protected in that they will be able to continue to use the IA name. When everyone originally trained, they signed a pledge or ethics with Denise. The license agreement is a stronger and more precise explanation of what can and cannot be done in association with IA. People who trained did not get to own the name Interior Alignment® or own the copyright for the material. The continued use of this material and name is available to everyone for their IA consulting practice for free. For teachers, who are earning income from creating new practitioners, more requirements have been established to ensure that courses are held with the same intention that Denise had when teaching and verbally explaining the requirements. Teachers who wish to certify new IA practitioners, have a special membership level of Teacher within the organization order to make use of the marketing of their course, and this membership fee is  to help defray the costs of the legal structure in place to safeguard all their graduates use of the name Interior Alignment®, which is a distinct benefit for teachers.

MASTER TEACHER QUESTIONS:

What if I’m a Master Teacher, but don’t intend to teach any classes this year, do I have to pay the teacher membership?

If you are not teaching currently, there is no membership fee. You would need to sign the MTIA license agreement, and if you would need to upgrade your membership subscription level to that of Shining Star MTIA when you decide to teach a certification course. Courses are only listed and approved for Shining Star level MTIA.

Why does it cost money to be a teacher of Interior Alignment now?

Prior to IA being trademarked, there was no overhead costs. However, had IA not been trademarked by Denise, it is possible we would have lost the right to that name and none of us would have been able to us this term or certify new people in this process. The trade marking process itself was financial expense, with ongoing fees. In order to make use of this protection, and also to be associated with the name recognition that has been generated for Interior Alignment®, the membership fee for teachers helps defray those costs.

Why do I have to buy the student kits? Can’t I make my own manuals for my students?

In order to assure that all IA students have the same newly formatted, 2014 edition, professionally produced practitioner manual, (with the new color section, colored tabsets, gold foil embossed gorgeous notebooks, high quality paper), and high quality note bag with the Interior Alignment® logo, the personalized pen, the standardized professional certificate with gold foil seal in red presentation packet); the concept of the “student kit” was created.

Buying this type of prepackaged set in bulk is a lower price than what a teacher would pay to have a few of these produced at a time. Interior Alignment, LLC has pre-purchased these in bulk to obtain great quality at a lower cost, so that you do not need to store them at your location. It also assures all IA student are receiving the same basic student materials for their training.