Oh, patents! Moulin Roty - solidarity and respect

Copyright @ Françoise Herrmann

This French toy and infant product manufacturer’s story is almost like a modern day fairy tale!

Scroll back to the year 1972 (in the aftermath of the 1968 student protests in France) and to a group of friends wanting to work together and to build a community, at the intersection of screen printing, art and crafts. Then picture them all relocating to a small village called Moulin Roty, on the west coast of France, renovating an old mill, and you have the workshop’s name which was later incorporated as a SCOP, that is, a 100% worker-owned cooperative.   

But this company organization, its ideals, and their original headquarters was never the hot selling point, or what made them really famous in the world beyond Moulin Roty (the small town).  In fact their original headquarters, including all of their work and the company’s stocks, were completely burnt down in a fire in 1988.The cooperative is just their story, and their way of operating, on the principles of solidarity and respect, ensuring that everyone is happily invested in their work, and that this work counts for everyone in the company.

What really made them famous is the extraordinary softness and beauty of the old fashioned toys that they manufacture with modern flare, exquisite fabrics and stitching, in color coded lines. The products are also sold in conjunction with a Doudou (softy) service that promptly expedites a replacement toy to any child who has lost a beloved Moulin Roty softy toy!

Soft indeed and super cute, since the company’s first big hit, in 1975, was a small, foam and fabric covered wooden toy car that rolled around on two small wooden wheels! Soon after, another softy line was launched with Les Douilletes rag dolls, and the rest is history: one softer line after another of the cutest play characters, with the sweetest names and stories, packaged in the cutest boxes and match boxes, suitcases and pouches, in addition to infant furniture and bedding

Moulin Roty is now, a three generation, baby boomer tale of toil and toys that has successfully negotiated the transition from workshop to industrial production, while retaining a business structure compatible with their original ideals. The business is now operating with a 12 million Euro turnaround, distributing their softy toys and infant product lines only to preferred partners in France, and since 2000 to the US, Australia, Japan, Great Britain and a few other European countries.

Below you will find the Abstract for FR 2838406, a cute Moulin Roty invention designed to convert shopping bags into closed gift bags, officially titled in English: Cover for open top bag converting it into gift wrapper, comprises strip with aperture for bag handles, scored fold lines and adhesive strips.  And you will also find included patent figure drawings of this invention, and images of the Moulin Roty marketed softy products. 

Abstract FR 2838406

The cover, designed to fit over the open top of a bag made to contain a gift, consists of a strip of rigid, semi-rigid or supple material such as card, paper or plastic, having an aperture for the bag's handles, scored fold lines, and adhesive strips for attaching it to the sides of the bag. It can be made from a variety of materials and have decorative edges or a motif.