Oh, patents! Abercrombie & Fitch Bra-Free collection

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Within every piece of the Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) Bra-Free collection, there is a US utility patent with a scope extending beyond the specification of the invention. Indeed, the A&F Bra-Free collection encompasses a wide variety of garments, including camisoles, maxi and mini dresses, tanks, mock-neck sleeveless tees, scoop-neck tops, high-neck tops, lace tops, and the latest ¾-sleeve pointelle cardigan-tank, each comprising breast support without underwire or padding. An invention recited in the US utility patent, USRE41654E1, titled Garment with interior bra structure and side supports. A patent, assigned to the A&F Trading Co., that was reissued and awarded on Sept. 7th, 2010, to five inventors: Lisa Powers (US), Jami Leigh Anderson (US), Tiffany Nicole Harris (US), Christine Marie Kennedy (US), and Joshua Andrew Baumer (US).

The patent recites an interior bra structure with side supports, specified different from a shelf-bra that tends to minimize the bustline and is less flattering than a real bra. The patent also recites an interior bra structure with supports, different from a built-in bra permanently attached to a garment, that might show owing to a contour unmatched to a garment neckline or its straps, or bulge owing to padding and/or underwire. Thus, the invention offers to remedy the prior art of shelf bras and built-in bras, by offering a flattering bra structure that supports women’s breasts without padding, underwire, flattening, or a contour separate from the garment neckline or straps.

The included patent Figure 1 shows a woman 100 wearing a garment that covers at least her torso 102 and embodies the present interior bra invention. Specifically, the patent Figure 1 depicts a sports camisole 10 with an interior bra structure. The exterior fabric layer 14, of the garment has an upper part 14c, comprising the interior bra fabric layer 16, a front exterior panel 14a, and a rear exterior panel 14b, connected at side seams 14d. Side support panels 18 on each side of the woman’s breasts are connected to the interior fabric layer 16 of the bra structure, near the underarm towards the front, in the area 104.

The image of a striped Bra-Free rib scoop neck tank appears next to the patent Figure 1. Below, the abstract of the invention is also included.

A women's garment with built-in breast support and no underwire, comprises an exterior fabric layer for covering the torso. An exterior fabric layer has an upper part for at least partly covering the breasts. An interior fabric layer is connected to the upper part of the exterior fabric layer and is sized to extend only over the upper part of the exterior fabric layer on the inner surface thereof to cover at least part of the breasts of a woman. A pair of side support panels are connected to the interior fabric layer, each at over one lateral area of the torso, the lateral areas being adjacent respective lateral sides of the breasts and are made of non-stretch material for supporting the breasts. A pair of tapes or other fixing mechanisms are connected to the interior fabric layer and extend along respective medial edges of the side support panels. [Abstract USRE41654E1]

Reference
Abercrombie & Fitch (website)
https://www.abercrombie.com/

Oh, patents! abercrombie kids moose perfume bottle cap

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

 abercrombie kids markets a line of gentle, dermatology-tested, cosmetics. This cosmetics line currently includes Life, the girls' perfume, and Play the boys' cologne, both bottles equipped with moose antler bottle caps.

The moose bottle antler caps are a patented design. The US design patent USD953162S, titled Bottle cap, was awarded to Catherine Bamber (US), Kayla Kauzlarich (US)  and Sarah Schwartz, (US), on May 31, 2022. The patent was then assigned to Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Co.

The extracted patent figure 1 depicts a perspective view of the new bottle cap design. The broken lines indicate those parts of the design considered contextual and unclaimed (i.e., unprotected).

The girls' Life perfume, embodying the invention design cap, has a fresh sweet scent, with notes of fresh air, vanilla orchid, amber & musk. The boys' Play cologne has a fresh and crisp scent, with notes of fresh air, sage, sandalwood & musk.

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Reference
abercrombie kids
https://www.abercrombie.com/shop/us/kids/

Trademarked! A&F moose

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

For a lifestyle brand targeting the 20-something crowd, “Naughty or Nice”, sexy, rugged and preppy, one might wonder why a “moose” of all creatures remained as the endearing Abercrombie & Fitch logo, through to 2015, when the adult brand largely switched to logo-free. Whether large, small, or more recently infused with character in the abercrombie kids collections, the A&F moose is unmistakable.

Mystery solved with a cursory overview of Abercrombie & Fitch’s long history. Founded in 1892 in downtown Manhattan (New York City) by David T. Abercrombie as the Abercrombie Co., this nineteenth-century company originally catered to the refined outdoor enthusiast, for whom no suitable clothing or gear existed. Indeed, David T. Abercrombie was well positioned to know this, since he was a surveyor who spent much time in the wilderness. Ezra Fitch, on the other hand, was a wealthy, outdoor-loving, New York lawyer, who injected the company with capital, enabling it to grow. Thus, the moose is a charming symbol of the company’s outdoor roots that has withstood the test of time for more than 150 years.

The A&F moose logo is also a live trademark, registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). With the serial number 78253625 and the Registration Number 2889083, the Moose logo was registered anew on 5-23-2023 with a current renewal date set to 9-28-2034.

References

Abercrombie & Fitch (website)

https://www.abercrombie.com/shop/us

abercombie kids (website)

https://www.abercrombie.com/shop/us/kids?

USPTO - Trademarks

https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks

Trademarked: ON Dream on.

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The familiar ON logo appearing everywhere on the ON CLOUDS brand products is a registered wordmark at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). However, the registered wordmark description only partially reveals the logo’s meaning. The description registered in the USPTO database reads:

“The mark consists of the stylized lowercase wording 'ON' with the 'O' appearing on top of the letter "N". The 'O' has a small square extension diagonally sticking out of its top-right side. " Further below is the wording "DREAM ON.".

Indeed, ‘the small square extension diagonally sticking out” that makes the “O” look like an upside-down “Q” is in fact an old-fashioned stylized “light switch”. A switch, which graphically aligns with the brand’s desire to “ignite the human spirit with movement”.

Live and learn!

References

USPTO Trademark Search Results

https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/search/search-results/79975835

Staff. The history of ON (running). The Fresh Press by Finish Line Inc.

https://blog.finishline.com/the-history-of-on-running/

Oh, patents! ON CLOUDS soles

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The ON CLOUDS GmbH company was founded in 2010, in Zurich, Switzerland, by three former professional athletes: Olivier Bernhard*, David Allemann, and Caspar Coppeti. The brand took off with Roger Federer’s endorsement and co-designer partnership in 2019, then went public on the New York Stock Exchange (ONON) in 2021. However, the story of the brand’s origin is one of a kind.

Indeed, ON running shoes were born of cut garden hose pieces (seen as “clouds”) attached under a sports shoe upper. The garden hose pieces were intended to provide a soft landing—gentle on knees—when compressed under the runner’s repeated impact with the ground. Such garden-hose “clouds” would also provide a hard enough surface to enable propulsion, after compression under impact with the ground. An original idea, cobbled by Oliver Bernhard, that became the brand’s “cushioned landing, powerful takeoff” award-winning** cloud technology.

The US design patent USD804159S, titled Shoe sole, was granted on Dec. 5, 2017 to David Allemann (CH ) and Olivier Bernhard (CH), for the ornamental properties of the ON CLOUDS running shoe sole, modeling the original hose-cloud sole.

Below, the patent Figures 1 and 2 depict, respectively, a bottom plan view and a lateral elevation view of the ON CLOUDS running shoe sole, together with an image of a marketed ON Clouds product.

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Notes:

* Swiss Ironman champion.

** ON won the ISPO (Internationale Sponsorenmesse) BrandNew Award in 2010.

Reference
ON CLOUDS (website)
https://www.on.com/en-us/

Oh, patents! The Ōura ring potting compound (2)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

What’s a potting compound got to do with electronics, specifically the Ōura ring wearable computing device (WCD)? According to the US utility patent US11850069B, titled Wearable device and methods of manufacturing, the Ōura ring potting compound is preferably made of epoxy resin that is overmolded over the Ōura ring flexible circuit board and its electronic components. Thus, the Ōura ring potting compound encapsulates the miniaturized electronic components, preventing them from moving or being damaged by the environment. The potting compound also makes the smart ring impervious to water, which means you can wash dishes or swim without removing your ring. Fiinally, the potting compound forms a transparent window through which the tiny LED, red, green and infrared lights of the optical sensor can be concentrated and emitted, through finger skin into blood vessels, and re-captured by tiny photodiodes (PDs), to measure blood oxygen levels and variations in heart rate. Indeed, the Ōura ring potting compound and its particular embodiments, inside the exterior Ōura ring shell, is a patented invention.*

The included patent Figure 2 depicts an exploded view of an Ōura ring embodiment 200. Specifically, the patent Figure 2 depicts, the exterior ring shell 202, with alignment frames 204 and 206, made of a nickel, iron or cobalt alloy, attracted to the magnets of a charging base (undepicted on this figure drawing). The Figure 2 further depicts the electronic assembly 210, including a flexible circuit board 208, an antenna 222, a pressure sensor 216, a temperature sensor 214, and a near field communication (NFC) interface for connecting the ring via Bluetooth, wifi, Zigbee, ultra-wideband (UWB) or other wireless transmission. The Figure 2 also depicts the power source 220, and material 218 wedged between the power source 220 and the electronic assembly 210. Finally, the Figure 2 depicts the overmolded material 224 (the potting compound), encapsulating all the electronics and the power supply, within the exterior shell 202.

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*Note: The US utility patent US11850069B, titled Wearable device and methods of manufacturing, was awarded on December 26, 2023, to Denis Mars (US), Simon Ratner (US), and Curt C. von Badinski (US), one of the original Motiv Inc. , co-founders and smart ring inventors. In fact, the Motiv Inc., smart ring was the first comfortably and conveniently wearable computing device (WCD), which Ōuraring Inc., has continuously worked on improving, since Motiv Inc., was acquired via Proxy Inc.

References
Hughes, L. (Oct. 3, 2024). Inside the Ōura ring. Ōura Blog.
https://ouraring.com/blog/inside-the-ring-oura-ring-4/
Ōura Smart Ring (website)
https://ouraring.com/US11850069B

Oh, patents! The Ōura smart ring (1)

Françoise © Herrmann

The Ōura smart ring captures body messages and translates them into actionable information. For example, the Ōura smart ring records your heart rate, blood oxygen level, temperature, the number of steps you take, the number of calories you burn, and how you sleep, plus lots more. Indeed, the Ōura smart ring not only tracks and monitors body messages, it also synthesizes and summarizes them into meaningful daily, weekly, or monthly information, giving you feedback that allows you to make improvements to your health and fitness, in consultation with your healthcare providers. The heart rate data collected has even been evaluated with 99% accuracy, compared to heart rate measured via electrocardiogram (Ōura Science & Research). 

The Ōura smart ring is a patented invention. For example, the following US design patent, USD79764S, titled Wearable computing device, was awarded on July 11th, 2017 to Curt C. vo Badinski (US) and Michael J. Strasser (US). The patent was assigned to Motiv Inc., in San Francisco, CA, a competitor that was eventually acquired by Ōuraring Inc., in 2023.* 

Below, an image of the patent Figure 1, showing a perspective view of the wearable computing device. An image of one of the latest, generation 5, Ōura ring embodiments of the patented design is also included below. A short YouTube marketing video of the Ōura smart rings 5 is also included beneath. 

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Note*:  Motiv Inc., including its patent portfolio, was first acquired by Proxy, Inc., in 2020. Then Ōuraring Inc., acquired Proxy Inc., in 2023. 

Reference

Ōura Science and Research

https://ouraring.com/science-and-research 

Ōura Smart Ring (website)

https://ouraring.com/