Clothing line patent

You can protect a "new" combination of materials or features if the combination is "inventive" (i.e. not obvious to a clothing expert).

Examples of features that have been patented:

rivets reinforcing pocket edges
curved seam lines on pants
layers of material in a baby's diaper
arrangement of elastic strips in a sports bra
ventilation arrangement in sports clothing
shoe suspension mechanism
tops with posture rectifying formations
conductive polyamide gloves for operating touchscreens
metal tipped shoes for tap dancing
suits with pockets for receiving armour pads
wing suit
aerodynamic bicycle helmet
connector securing a strap to a handbag

If you believe that your clothing article has a combination of features, which combination is new and inventive, you can get a Patent Pending Number.

Sample registered clothing patents

NEW ASSEMBLY
US4028744 FILA protected "A knitted jacket including:
- a rear panel with a shoulder portion;
- a waist portion;
- a pair of inwardly arcuate edge portions between the shoulder and waist portions;
- a pair of one‐piece side panels having a waist zone and connected to the edge portions of the rear panel along first seams;
- a pair of front panels having shoulder regions respectively connected to the shoulder portion of the rear panel along second seams; and
- lateral edge regions connected to the side panels along third seams so that the rear, side and front panels together constitute a body of the jacket in which the side panels extend between the front and the rear of the body, each of the front panels including a first section having the shoulder region and being of an irregular hexagonal shape, and a substantially rectangular second section having a waist region and connected to the first section along a fourth seam; and a pair of reinforcing elements of inverted V‐shaped configurations respectively connected to the side panels at locations which are spaced from the waist zones and extending toward the rear and front panels, respectively.
Basically: Describing in words assembly of the jacket shown below:

ZA2007/09553 PUMA protected "sports clothing comprising an upper part and a pair of shorts, with the upper part and the pair of shorts being designed as a single piece, further including a shorts over‐part, which is joined or can be joined to the shorts and/or to the upper part."

In English: A onesie with attachable over‐shorts.

US4438574 NIKE protected "an athletic shoe comprising a sole and an upper attached to the sole the improvement comprising: a multi‐layered forepart section of the upper for covering a user's toes, the forepart section including an inner layer of stretchable and moldable material and an outer layer of breathable, flexible and nonstretchable material extending about the inner layer of material, the inner and outer layers being permanently attached to the shoe, a major portion of the inner layer being unconnected to the outer layer whereby the inner layer is free to stretch a degree limited by the extent of the outer layer of nonstretchable material to accommodate and mold to the user's toes."

In English: A shoe upper front portion including: (i) a stretchable, mouldable inner layer; and (ii) a breathable, non‐stretchable outer layer, wherein the two layers are generally free to move relative to each other.

US2013081307 CROC protected a shoe including:
- a sole portion; and
- an upper having a woven portion made up of:
  - (i) a first set of bands, formed as part of a shell molded from a foam material; and
  - (ii) a second set of bands, formed from the foam material, that is interwoven with the first set of bands.
In English: A shoe with a woven portion made of foam material
NEW MATERIAL
WO2017/020022 PATAGONIA got a Patent Pending Number for "A compressible insulating material comprising: an insulating material, wherein portions of the insulating material are removed or cut so as to provide increased breathability and warmth‐to‐weight ratio and a decreased compression profile relative to the insulating material when fully intact.

In English: A jacket made from material with holes.

This PATAGONIA jacket was also protected as a registered design:

And, Patagonia sold lots of them … surely a Patent Pending and Design Registration Pending jacket must be better than the "others".

EP2775872 HELLY HANSEN protected "A garment comprising layers of fabric, wherein:
- a first layer is a protective shell provided with air flow ports;
- a second layer is an insulating layer, and has a thickness sufficient to provide holes holding a volume of air to function as air cells; and
- an innermost layer is a mesh liner.
In English: Clothing having: a waterproof, breathable outer layer; a perforated insulating middle layer; and a mesh inner layer.
NEW FEATURE
US8,276,213 NORTH FACE protected "a garment including: a zipper, which when fully unzipped, exposes a venting mechanism attached to and completely surrounded by the zipper, wherein the venting mechanism comprises: (i) an oblong‐shaped opening aligned with zipper, and a mesh fabric set inside the opening; and (ii) a no‐catch mechanism attached to the mesh fabric to pull and secure the mesh fabric away from the zipper, wherein a central portion of the mesh fabric is joined together to enclose the no‐catch mechanism."

In English: A vent opening with a removable mesh cover and a zipper for closing the vent.

US5,271,101 NIKE protected "cycling pants comprising: (i) a body portion having a waist opening and two leg openings such that a wearer can insert a leg through each leg opening and pull the body portion upwards into a wearing position; (ii) a pants liner covering the buttocks region, the perineal region, and extending upwards to the lower front pelvic region of the wearer when the body portion is positioned in the wearing position; (iii) attaching means for attaching the liner to a surface of the body portion facing inwardly towards the wearer; and (iv) the liner including integrally formed embossed break lines creating seamless indentations in the liner such that the liner conforms to the anatomical curves of the wearer when positioned in a riding position on a bicycle and thereby reduces abrasion to the wearer."

In English: Cycling pants with an embossed liner.

Get a Patent Pending Number in 5 steps:

Enter the applicant's name and address
Enter the inventor's name
Sign forms
Upload a document describing your invention / product
Pay US$99

You will receive a Patent Pending Number within a couple of business days of payment. Since the Patent Pending Number application is not subject to any examination by the Patent Office, issuance of the Patent Pending Number is guaranteed.

What to include in the uploaded document:

The uploaded document must "fully describe" each new feature on your article of clothing. We suggest detailing:

what the clothing article is made of;
how the clothing article is made; and
the benefits associated with your new features.

Also include photos or sketches of your clothing article.

Other than this, no specific format for a Patent Pending Number document is required by law.

Tip: For further assistance in writing a Patent Pending document, see the IdeaNav Patent Template.

Rights and countries

After receiving your Patent Pending Number, you may:

market and sell your clothing article worlwide;
mark your clothing article "Patent Pending"; and
file corresponding patents in up to 177 countries (including Europe, US, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, South Africa, Russia, India, Brazil and Mexico) during the next 12 months.

Confidentiality

We will maintain the information disclosed by you confidential and sign a confidentiality undertaking in this regard. The Patent Office with which we file your Patent Pending Number will also keep your disclosures secret. Unless you choose to disclose the content of your Patent Pending Number document, no‐one will have access to it.

What next?

In 12 months' time, you will need to file a complete patent application. When doing so, you can add more detail to your description and bolster your drawings. A patent attorney will likely assist in drafting this complete patent specification. But, for now, you are able to take the first step yourself.