Patents on the soles of your shoes...: Oh, patents! SNEEX last*

Friday, October 4, 2024

Oh, patents! SNEEX last*

The shoe last is the starting point of every shoe design and has been called ‘the heart of the shoe.’ […] The shape of the last determines the fit, performance, ergonomics, and style of a shoe, and is also what makes a shoe suitable for playing basketball, climbing mountains, or running a marathon. Great-looking shoe design is nothing if the last is not appropriate for the shoe’s function.

Accordingly, the SNEEX stiletto last is a patented design. The SNEEX last was awarded the US design patent USD982304S, titled Shoe last. The patent was awarded on April 4, 2023, to Sara Blakely, Jadideah Yarbrough and Sylma Colon-Otten.

Below the patent Figure 1 showing a front, left-side, perspective view of the patented shoe last, together with an image of the SNEEX last used to design SNEEX stilettos. The image of the yellow SNEEX last illustrates the gap in support on the footbed of a regular stiletto. A gap that the SNEEX stiletto design precisely fills as part of the comfort innovations of the shoe.