Patents on the soles of your shoes...: October 2026

Monday, October 26, 2026

Interlude - Pierre Dubreuil's Éléphantaisie (1908).

Pierre Dubreuil – Éléphantaisie (1908).

Photo, acquired in 2009 by The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Pierre Dubreuil's [1872-1944] photograph depicts Emmanuel Frémiet's [1824-1910] life-size bronze sculpture of a young elephant caught in a trap (Éléphant pris au piège). Originally commissioned for the Paris World Fair (Exposition Universelle), in 1878, the piece stood on a pedestal in front of the original Trocadero Palace, as part of a tetraptych, comprising a horse, a bull, and a rhinoceros. The sculptures were moved to the Paris Musée d’Orsay's front court, in 1986, when the museum was inaugurated.*

Dubreuil's photograph, using a telephoto lens, foregrounds the Éléphant pris au piège statue against the Eiffel Tower. The photograph engulfs the viewer in horror before the pain of a gentle giant, trapped by the cruel cupidity of cunning predators.

Note

The Frémiet sculptures are currently being renovated as part of a larger museum-access remodeling project. The Frémiet sculptures, including the trapped elephant, are scheduled to return to the Paris Musée d'Orsay's front court at the end of 2027.

References

Pierre Dubreuil's Éléphantaisie (1908) – De Young Museum/Legion of Honor - The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

https://www.famsf.org/artworks/elephantaisie

Mais où partent les statues du parvis du Musée d'Orsay? [Now, where are the statues of the Orsay Museum?] - Musée d'Orsay.

https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/node/329747

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Oh, patents! Gucci® fabric design

The widely recognizable monogrammed fabric design, comprising two facing ‘g’s, one of which is inverted, represents the founder’s initials, Guccio Gucci. This monogrammed fabric design is patented. The US design patent, USD400360, titled Top surface of a fabric, was awarded to Domenico De Sole, on November 3rd, 1998, and assigned to Guccio Gucci S.p.A., in Florence, Italy.

Below, the sole patent Figure image depicting a front elevation view of the top surface of a fabric, showing the monogrammed design. Beneath the patent Figure, the image of one of the large Guccio Gucci Totes, unveiled during the Gucci® Cruise 2026 fashion show in Florence, Italy. The Guccio Gucci Tote shown here is made of beige canvas with the patented facing-and-inverted GG monogram. This Guccio Gucci Tote also has a black leather trim and gold-tone hardware that includes a small interlocking GG, on the equally iconic green-and-red Gucci® web stripe. The Cruise 2026 Guccio Gucci Tote comes in 17 different styles. The monogrammed canvas is otherwise used for countless Gucci® accessories.

Reference
Gucci® (website)
https://www.gucci.com/

Friday, October 9, 2026

Oh, patents! Vintage Gucci® bag (3)

The vintage Gucci® Dionysus bag is a patented design. The US design patent, USD798046S, titled, Handbag, was awarded to Alessandro Michel on September 26, 2017, and assigned to Guccio Gucci S.p.A., in Florence, Italy.

The below patent Figure 1 depicts a front perspective view of the inventive design. The chain appears with a symbolic break to indicate that the patent does not cover any part that might appear between the break, considering that the chain might slide as a single shoulder strap or double-up as a handle.

The small emerald-green marketed Gucci® Dionysus bag, shown next to the patent Figure 1, is made of pebbled calfskin leather. The shoulder strap drop is 14.75 inches. The handle drop is 8.5 inches. The two-tone palladium-and-gold hardware, with inlaid green crystals, depicts the “twice-born” Greek God of wine Dionysus.

Reference

Gucci® (website)
https://www.gucci.com/

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Oh, patents! Vintage Gucci® bag (2)

The vintage Gucci® Padlock bag is a patented design. The US design patent, USD772564S, titled, Handbag, was awarded to Alessandro Michel on November 29, 2016, and assigned to Guccio Gucci S.p.A., in Florence, Italy.

The below patent Figure 1 depicts a front perspective view of the inventive design. The chain appears symbolically sectioned to indicate that the patent does not cover any part that might appear above the break, considering that the chain might slide as a single shoulder strap or double-up as a handle.

The marketed Gucci® Padlock bag shown below the patent Figure 1, is made of black calfskin. The shoulder strap drop is 18.75 inches, the handle drop is 11.25 inches.

Reference

Gucci® (website)
https://www.gucci.com/

Sunday, October 4, 2026

Oh, patents! Vintage Gucci® bag (1)

Founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci in Florence, Italy, as a luggage and leather accessory store, Guccio Gucci S.p.A., backed by foreign investment, now operates 635 luxury stores worldwide, employing 20,000 employees, selling ready-to-wear apparel, footwear, handbags, furnishings, and perfume, with an annual revenue of 7.65 billion euros (in 2024). Rocked by internal feuds and scandals, fictionalized in the Hollywood motion picture House of Gucci, starring Lady Gaga, the prestigious luxury brand endures, with more than 1000 design patents awarded and assigned.

The following US design patent*, USD770175S, titled Handbag, was awarded to Alessandro Michele, on November 1, 2016, and assigned to Guccio Gucci S.p.A. in Florence, Italy. The patented design was marketed as the Gucci® Animalier Tiger flap purse.

Below, the patent figure 1 depicts a front perspective view of the handbag, together with an image of a marketed embodiment. The marketed product is crafted in black leather, with dramatic antique gold-tone tiger-head hardware.

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Note
As a reminder, a US design patent protects the ornamental aspects of an invention, or what the inventive design looks like. US design patents are different from US utility patents, which protect how an invention works or is manufactured.

References
Gucci® (website)
https://www.gucci.com/
House of Gucci (trailer). Director: Ridley Scott, 158 minutes, 2021.
https://youtu.be/pGi3Bgn7U5U?si=Us7CiRtFcQsWfOpK