Oh, patents! Perugia superstar, US utility patents

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Perugia was an extraordinarily prolific inventor!  

Not only did Perugia file design patents for all the new shoe models that he invented, he also filed many more utility patents, in regards shoe manufacture, materials and ergonomy. 

Perugia’s utility patents span a wide range of inventions: 

 - improvements to soles, manufacturing processes, comfort and wear

- new materials for shoe manufacturing including organic fibers, cork and wood

- new manufacturing processes for use of the new materials, for various new parts of a shoe such as strapping, or elastic portions

- new sorts of shoes, sandals, in particular, and

- new sorts of heels, from the whimsical musical heels to removable and changeable heels.

Perugia’s US (only) utility patents are listed below. As you will see, in some cases I. Miller and Sons was the Assignee.  The patents listed are hyperlinked to the keyed figure drawings filed as part of the disclosure of the inventions, at the USPTO.

The patents that Perugia filed in France, Germany, Switzerland Canada and Austria will be listed in subsequent posts, and some of the inventions presented in greater detail.

US Utility Patents

US1609918 – Heel for shoes – Dec. 7, 1926 – André Perugia.

US1642889 – Shoe heel – Sept. 20 1927 – André Perugia.

US1798271 - Shoe closure – March 31, 1931, André Perugia, Assignee I Miller and Sons.

US1814260 – The manufacture of shoe uppers – July 14, 1931 - André Perugia.

US2136084 - Shoe – November 8, 1938 - André Perugia.

US2208104 – Shoe – July 16, 1940 – Andre Perugia, Assignee Saks and Company.

US2199713 - Footwear – May 7, 1941 – André Perugia.

US2465817 - High Heel shoe - March 29, 1949 - André Perugia, Assignee I Miller and Sons.

US2592182 – Shoe with elastic back and added fastening means – April 8 1952 - Perugia.

US2632259 - Improvements to initially divided insoles - March 24, 1953 - Perugia.

US2726462 - Improvements to initially divided insoles – Dec. 13, 1955 – Perugia.

US2730736 - Method of making shoes – Jan 17, 1956 – Perugia.
US2795866 - Ladies shoe – June 18, 1957 - André Perugia, Assignee I. Miller and Sons.

Oh patents! Perugia, superstar shoe designer

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

André Perugia (1893-1977) was a famous, turn of the 20^th century, shoemaker and designer. He was also Israel Miller's lifelong friend!

Perugia was born in France, of Italian shoemaker parents. He set up shop in Paris in 1909, where he sold handmade shoes. Perugia was a brilliant shoe designer and prolific inventor, with more than 100 registered patents, including dozens of US design patents and utility patents. Perugia also filed patents in France,  Germany, Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland and Austria!  

Below, you will find a list of André Perugia's timeless  US (only) Design patents, some of which were granted in batches with consecutive numbers. For example, six consecutive US Design patents were granted on March 16, 1937,  and five were granted on May 8, 1934.

The illustrations filed for each of Perugia's famous design patents are hyperlinked from the USPTO to the list of design patents below. Just click on the US Design patent number to see the registered drawings of the shoe design filed as part of the patent.  

For the definition of a design patent and differences compared to utility patents, please refer to the Patents on the soles of your shoes post on Design and utility patents: What’s the difference? In a nutshell: 

 “a “utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a "design patent" protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171).” [USPTO]

Hyperlinked list of André Perugia's US design patents

USD80632 – Design for a shoe - March 4, 1930 – André Perugia
USD91725 - Design for a shoe – March 13, 1934 – André Perugia
USD91728 - Design for a shoe – March 13, 1934 – André Perugia
USD92200 – Design for a shoe – May 8, 1934 – André Perugia
USD92201 - Design for a shoe - May 8, 1934 - André Perugia
USD92202 – Design for a shoe – May 8, 1934 – André Perugia
USD92203 – Design for a shoe – May 8, 1934 – André Perugia
USD92204 – Design for a shoe – May 8, 1934 – André Perugia
USD92369 – Design for shoe – May 29, 1934 – André Perugia
USD92924 – Design for shoe – July 31, 1934 – André Perugia
USD93788 – Design for a shoe - November 6, 1934 – André Perugia
USD93789 – Design for a shoe - November 6, 1934 – André Perugia
USD93846 – Design for a shoe - Nov. 13, 1934 – André Perugia
USD93887 – Design for a shoe - Nov. 20, 1934 – André Perugia
USD93888 -– Design for a shoe - Nov. 20, 1934 – André Perugia
USD94513 – Design for a shoe – Feb. 5, 1935 – André Perugia
USD95775 - Design for a shoe - May 28, 1935 – André Perugia
USD95776 - Design for a shoe - May 28, 1935 – André Perugia
USD96127 – Design for a shoe – July 2, 1935 - André Perugia
USD96128 – Design for a shoe – July 2, 1935 – André Perugia
USD96412 – Design for a shoe - July 30, 1935 – André Perugia
USD102193 – Design for a shoe or similar article – Dec. 1, 1936 – Perugia
USD103586 – Design for a shoe or similar article – March 16, 1937 – Perugia
USD103588 – Design for a shoe or similar article – March 16, 1937 – Perugia
USD103590 - Design for a shoe – March 16, 1937 – André Perugia
USD103592 – Design for a shoe – March 16, 1937 – André Perugia
USD103593 - Design for a shoe or similar – March 16, 1937 – Perugia
USD103594 - Design for a shoe or similar – March 16, 1937 – Perugia
USD104469 - Design for a shoe or similar – May 11, 1937 – Perugia
USD104470 - Design for a shoe or similar – May 11, 1937 – Perugia
USD104471 - Design for a shoe or similar – May 11, 1937 – Perugia
USD104725 – Design for a shoe or similar article – June 1, 1937 – Perugia
USD104877 - Design for a shoe or similar article – June 8, 1937 – Perugia
USD111858 - Design for a shoe or similar article- Oct. 25, 1938 – Perugia
USD112085 – Design for a shoe or similar article- Sept. 8, 1938 – Perugia
USD112086 – Design for a shoe or similar article- Sept. 8, 1938 – Perugia
USD111857 – Design for a shoe or similar article - Oct. 25, 1938 – Perugia
USD113877 – Design for a shoe or similar article – May 21, 1939 - Perugia
USD124331 – Design for a shoe - December 31, 1940 - André Perugia
USD166867 – Lady’s shoe or similar article – May 27, 1952 – André Perugia

Prow-toe sandal 1960, Turban Sandal 1928, Mask Sandal 1929  (O,Keefe, 1996)

Reference

USPTO: Guide to filing a design patent application

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/pdf/brochure_05.pdf 
O,Keefe, L (1996) Shoes: A celebration of pumps, platforms, sandals and slippers, boots, mules, sneakers and more. NY, NY: Worrman Publishing

Found!...The NYC I. Miller Building

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann          

 I. . Miller Buiding - THE SHOW FOLKS SHOP DEDICATED TO BEAUTY IN FOOTWARE

Right at Times Square in NYC, on the corner of Broadway and 46th Street, stands the I. Miller Building, completely restored on the outside, and remodeled on the inside, by the Express Inc., fashion apparel company, which acquired the historical landmark building in 2012. 

The architect Louis H. Freeland was originally commissioned in 1926 to remodel the brownstone structure at the corner of 46^th and Broadway into the stunning limestone, marble and bronze headquarters of the I. Miller empire. In 1911, the shoemaker Israel Miller had set up shop at Nos. 1552-4 Broadway, and in 1926 the Polish immigrant was one of the most famous shoemakers and importers of shoes in the US, with 4 stores in Manhattan, 1 in Brooklyn and a total of 16 stores nationwide.  I. Miller originally designed shoes for the entertainment business, and his success was largely due to the actresses and actors for whom he first designed beautiful costume shoes. 

Ties to the entertainment business explain why it is written in stone, on the 46th street façade of the building: “ I. Miller Building - The show folks shoe store dedicated to beauty in footware”. And this is also the reason why the recesses on each side of the 5 upstairs windows display full-length marble art deco statues of the most popular actresses of the time. The location at Times Square also remains as a central district for NYC theaters and entertainment.

To determine which celebrated actresses would represent the entertainment industry, I. Miller organized a contest, the results of which were published in Sept. 6, 1927 issue of the The NYTimes. The four winners represented four different areas of entertainment: Ethel Barrymore was selected to represent the drama, Marilyn Miller to represent musical comedy, Rosa Ponselle to represent opera and Mary Pickford to represent motion pictures.

I. Miller Building - Marble statues of Mary Pickford as Little Lord Fauntleroy and Marilyn Miller as Sunny 

The Philadelphia sculptor Alexander Sterling Calder (father of Alexander Calder, the famous modern art, mobile sculptor) was commissioned for the sculptures of the actresses, each representing an entertainment branch. Calder chose to depict Ethel Barrymore (Drew Barymore's great-aunt!) in the role Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet ; Mary Pickford (also producer and founder of United Artists) in the role of Cedric in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children novel Little Lord Fauntleroy; Marilyn Miller in the role of Sunny the circus queen in the Broadway musical Sunny with music by Jerome Kern, lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach; and Rosa Ponselle as Leonora in the Verdi’s opera La forza del destino.

The I. Miller building was inaugurated in front of a crowd of 3000 on Oct. 20, 1929, a few months after Israel Miller died in Paris (France).

The building façade withstood a devastating fire on Jan 31, 1959 when the building housed a Howard Johnson Restaurant. The billboards of the Broadway façade were reported to have prevented access for the fire to be extinguished.   

The building was awarded a historical landmark designation in 1999.

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In June 2015, as flagship store for Express fashion, the façade appeared as beautiful as ever on 46th street, and the inside rocks!!!

I. Miller Building Express flagship store - June 2015 

References

Photos – All mine.

Gray, Ch. (Feb. 10, 2008) A little Jewel box of a shoe store – Broadway and 46^th The New York Times – Feb. 10, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/realestate/10scap.html?_r=0

The 1929 Miller Building – No. 1552-4 Broadway

http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-1929-i-miller-sons-bldg-no-1552-4.html

“The Show Folks Shoe Shop Dedicated to Beauty in Footwear”

I. Miller, shoe manufacturer, dies (Aug. 15, 1929) Jewish Telegraphic Agency

http://www.jta.org/1929/08/15/archive/i-miller-shoe-manufacturer-dies

I. Miller & Sons

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/d/dhhcc/bios/millershoes.html

http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-1929-i-miller-sons-bldg-no-1552-4.html  

Express

http://www.express.com/

Alexander Sterling Calder (Sculptor – father)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Stirling_Calder

Alexander Calder (Modern artist and sculptor son)

http://www.calder.org/

Ethel Barrymore (Theatre)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Barrymore

Hamlet (Shakespeare)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet

Mary Pickford (Motion Pictures)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Pickford

Little Lord Fauntleroy (novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Lord_Fauntleroy_(1921_film)

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Hodgson_Burnett

Marilyn Miller (Musical)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Miller

Sunny (musical )

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_(musical)

Rosa Ponselle (Opera)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Ponselle

La forza del destino (opera – Guiseppe Verdi)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_forza_del_destino

NAME STAGE FAVORITES -  I. Miller Concern's Patrons Hold Popularity Contest – NY Times Sept. 6, 1927. [$3.95 pdf access fee] 

Self-portrait of a blogger...!

Copyrght © Françoise Herrmann

By now you are probably really curious... about the Spider and the shipwreck...  So... here she is... the Blogger blogging Patents on the soles your shoes... teaching patents translation... hoping you are all enjoying the show as much as I...

Françoise Herrmann - June 2015 - NYC MOMA

At the NYC MOMA on the third floor... where this summer 2015 I. Miller and Sons extravaganza all began!

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xox dear readers...

Oh, patents! The I. Miller and Sons shoes (3)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Canadian patent CA270663 titled Shoe shank is another I. Miller and Sons patent addressing shoe and boot comfort.

You are probably wondering what a shoe shank (cambrion or cambrillon in French) could possibly be!  The shoe shank refers to the section of the sole at the instep and in particular to the rigid piece inserted at the level of the instep, beneath the insole of a shoe or boot sole. This rigid piece or shoe shank is designed to prevent excessive flexibility of the instep. Thus, it is generally designed to stiffen the shoe or boot, and to support the foot’s arch.

The I. Miller and Sons patented shoe shank presents certain innovative properties, in particular, the capacity to yield a bit while providing the necessary rigidity to the shank. The yielding of this shoe shank is designed to better accommodate the way the bone structure of both arch and heel move during walking, and thus to provide more comfort to wearers when walking or standing.

To achieve the novel combination of rigidity and movement, designed for greater comfort, the invention discloses a device comprising two strips or plates with “slideably overlapping” U-shaped extensions, positioned end-to-end, and further equipped with means to prevent lateral movement. Thus, under pressure the two extension parts slide, without shifting laterally, providing more resiliency to the sliding extensions than to the rest of the strips. The result is a shoe or boot that yields to the wearer’s foot when moving, and greater comfort as the shank is thus more consistently designed according to the bone structure and dynamics of the wearer’s instep.

Below, two figure drawings, extracted from CA270663 titled “Shoe shank”, are included. Figure 1  shows the two parts of the shoe shank slidably connected, while Figure 2 shows both parts unassembled. 

  Although it is impossible to see the shoe shank, that is, this particular patented and anatomic comfort feature of the I. Miller and Sons shoes, another fabulous Andy Warhol shoe perdu is also included below!  

Andy Warhol - Shoe bright, shoe light, first shoe I've seen tonight

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What is perhaps becoming clearer is why the I. Miller and Sons shoes were so successful! Looking back, it appears that Andy Warhol captured their known beauty and that the patents disclosed the innovative manufacturing attention to functionality.... and comfort! What a winning shoe combo!

Oh, patents! Shoe terminology....

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

There are more than a few technical terms in the I. Miller and Sons shoe patents. The "last" and "lasting" shoes (with no pun intended), the vamp, the throat and the tongue of the shoe... 

Below, a  small bilingual shoe-parts picture glossary is included for your information, and for the clarity, accuracy  and general elegance of your expression…!

And while we are talking shoe parts, we may as well talk shoe types… so you will also find a small bilingual glossary of shoes types… to French...and from French, too.  You know… your loafers, Mary Janes, slides and beloved Crocs™ ...!

English	français
loafers, slip-ons	mocassins (m. pl.), loafers (m.pl), flaneurs (m. pl.)
Mary Janes	babies (f. pl) , baby (f.s.)
clogs	sabots (m. pl)
Crocs™	Crocs™ (m. pl)
pumps	escarpins (m. pl.)
flats	ballerines (f. pl)
sneakers	baskets (m. pl.)
Oxfords	richelieu(s) (m. s(pl.).)
Derbys	Derby (m. s.)
mocs (mocassins – Native American with fringes)	mocassins
Keds™	Keds™ (m.pl)
(thong) flip flops	tongs (m. pl)
slippers	chaussons (m. pl)
mule	pantouffles (f. pl)
thigh boot	cuissardes (f. pl)
knee boot	bottes (f. pl)
ankle boots	bottines (f. pl) pour femmes, botillons (m.pl) pour hommes, boots (m.pl.) pour hommes et femmes)
Wellingtons	bottes en caoutchouc (f. pl)
wedges	(chaussures, bottes, sandales) à semelles compensées (f. pl. adj.)
espadrilles (canvas & rope-soled shoes)	espadrilles (f. pl)
sandals	nu-pieds (m. pl.)
(shower) slides	claquettes de piscine (f. pl.)
heavy duty lace-up boot  (hiking or work)	brodequin (m.s.)
t-bar sandal, cross-toe sandal, school sandal (by Start Rite in UK, and Sonnet un US)	salomé (f.s.)
winklepickers(UK)	chaussures à bout pointu ou pointues (f. pl)
Charentais (bedroom, carpet, house) slipper	charentaises (f.pl.)
deck shoes	bateaux (m. pl.)

References
Anatomy of a shoe pump (female)
http://www.runningwithheels.com/index.php/2007/12/anatomy-of-a-pump/
Anatomy of an athletic shoe
http://sanluispodiatrygroup.com/?page=shoe-anatomy

Dolce.fr – Lexique chaussures

http://www.dolce.fr/lexique-chaussures

Dupré, C. (1982) Vocabulaire de la chaussusre – Teminologie technique et industrielle – Cahiers de l’Office de la language française - Office Québécois

https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/ressources/bibliotheque/dictionnaires/1982_chaussure.pdf

Herrmann, F (2013) Wow patents! Crocs™!

http://patentsonthesolesofyourshoes.blogspot.com/2013/02/wow-patents-crocs.html 

Lexique de la chaussure – Jacques et Déméter

http://blog.jacquesdemeter.fr/lexique-de-la-chaussure/
Wikipedia - Derby shoe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_shoe 
Wikipedia - Winklepicker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winklepicker
Wikipedia - T-bar sandal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-bar_sandal
Wikipedia - Mary Jane (shoe)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_(shoe)
Wikipedia - Oxford shoe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_shoe
Wikipedia - Derby shoe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_shoe