Patents on the soles of your shoes...: 2025

Sunday, December 7, 2025

Terminology - WOTTIES 2025 - Collins Dictionary shortlisted Words of the Year

Terms shortlisted for the Collins Word of the Year (WOTY) are no less interesting mirrors of a year’s worth of trends and events. Collins posted the following nine 2025 Words of the Year, competing with “vibe coding”, the one term that was selected as the 2025 Word of the Year. A list of nine terms, each including a copyrighted Harper Collins definition, as well as a supporting still image, and/or GIF animation.

aura farming: The deliberate cultivation of a distinctive and charismatic persona.

biohacking: The activity of altering the natural processes of one's body in an attempt to improve one's health and longevity.

broligarchy: A small clique of very wealthy men who exert political influence.

clanker: A derogatory term for a computer, robot, or source of artificial intelligence.

GIF animation file unavailable for "clanker".

Visit https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty

coolcation: A holiday in a place of cool climate.

glaze: To praise or flatter (someone) excessively or undeservedly.

HENRY (acronym for High Earner, Not Rich Yet): A person who has not accrued substantial wealth from their high income due to their lifestyle or external financial demands.

micro-retirement: A break taken between periods of employment in order to pursue personal interests.

GIF animation file unavailable for "micro-retirement".

Visit https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty

task-masking: The act of giving a false impression that one is being productive in the workplace.

References
Quinn, R. (Nov. 6, 2025). Collins’ Word of the Year 2025: AI meets authenticity as society shifts. Collins Love of Language Blog.
https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/collins-word-of-the-year-2025-ai-meets-authenticity-as-society-shifts/#google_vignette
Collins Word of the Year (WOTY)
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Terminology – WOTTIES 2025 – Collins Dictionary “vibe coding” Word of the Year

Each year, the major English language dictionaries publish The Words of the Year (WOTY, plural WOTTIES). A list of terms, and the winner of them all, are selected by a committee of terminologists, often backed by the number of times the term(s) were searched online, and/or crowdsourced votes.

Collins Dictionary selected “vibe coding” as the 2025 Word of the Year winner. A term first used on the social media platform X, on February 2, 2025, by Andrej Karpathy, former Director of AI at Tesla and founding engineer at OpenAI. In the X post, Karpathy described how easy it was to use AI-assisted programming tools, such as Cursor Composer and Claude Sonnet, designed to code and debug upon natural language prompting. He described how the tools were currently so good at executing his prompts that he could “give in to the vibes” (go with the flow) of coding, while “just forgetting that the code even exists”. In other words, he could use AI tools to do the computer programming, without writing and reading the unfolding code, or even attempting to debug it. A new jouissance, indeed!

By implication, according to Cress (2025) at the BBC, even if Karpathy's post on vibe coding addressed insiders, his X post also suggested that anyone could at least program a simple app, without any prior coding knowledge. All the user would have to do is request the program's features and functions. The example Karpathy provided for a weekend website construction project was that he could just ask the AI tool to "decrease the padding on the sidebar by half ", without even having to find the code that would execute such a change to the website's functional appearance.

In turn, Collins defined the term “vibe coding” as "the use of artificial intelligence prompted by natural language to assist with the writing of computer code.” To illustrate the Dictionary's winning 2025 Word of the Year, Collins also posted the below animated GIF.

References

Collins Dictionary (online)

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty

Cress, L. (Nov. 5, 2025) 'Vibe coding' named word of the year by Collins Dictionary.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd2y053nleo

Quinn, R. (Nov. 6, 2025). Collins’ Word of the Year 2025: AI meets authenticity as society shifts. Collins Love of Language Blog.
https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/collins-word-of-the-year-2025-ai-meets-authenticity-as-society-shifts/#google_vignette

Karpathy, A. (2025) Post on “X”.
https://x.com/karpathy/status/1886192184808149383?lang=en

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Oh, patents! Louis Vuitton soles

During his brief tenure as Creative Director for menswear at the 170-year-old Louis Vuitton (LV) luxury fashion House, Virgil Abloh* had time to introduce skate-style sneakers into the prestigious line of LV shoes. The chunky sneaker, street-skate style, was re-created and expertly tweaked into an iconic LV sneaker. A sneaker that became a permanent staple of the luxury LV product line. Luxury, because each pair of LV sneakers is hand-crafted at the Manufacture de Souliers Louis Vuitton (manufacturing and design center for LV shoes), in Fiesso d'Artico, close to Venice, Italy. A shoe manufacturing process that takes approximately seven hours to complete for each pair.

Skate-style, as in “skateboard-style”, the board that was originally designed, in the 50s and 60s, for surfers to keep fit and agile on land, during periods when there are no waves to ride in the ocean. A twenty-first-century style that had already transitioned over several decades, from the niche-sport surf-style into a global street-style phenomenon, complete with organized skate competitions, skate music, skate fashion, and insider skate talk (Thimo, 2024). A style that Virgil Abloh had already pioneered in the United States with his own luxury streetwear brand called Off-White™.

The LV street-style sneakers have a patented sole. The US design patent, USD1033004, titled Sole for footwear, was awarded on July 2nd, 2024, to Mathias Patillon and Alexander Kelvy. The patent was then assigned to the original legendary (1854) trunk-making company Louis Vuitton Malletier (FR).

Below, the patent Figure depicting the patented sole design, from the bottom-up, together with LV Skate and LV Trainer sneakers models, both manufactured with the patented sole design.

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Note

* Virgil Abloh, the first black-American Creative Director for Louis Vuitton menswear, from 2018 till his premature death at the age of 41, in 2021.

References

Louis Vuitton (website)

https://us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/

Louis Vuitton: A legendary history.

https://us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/magazine/articles/a-legendary-history

Manufacture de souliers Louis Vuitton

https://wwd.com/footwear-news/shoe-features/gallery/louis-vuitton-italian-footwear-factory-photos-1238026158/

Off-White™

https://www.off---white.com/

Thimo (March 31, 2024). The evolution and enduring popularity of skate style. Sneaker Jagers.

https://tinyurl.com/bdzx5fsu

Sunday, November 9, 2025

Oh, patents! Manolo Blahnik Borla evening clutch (6)

The Manolo Blahnik Borla evening clutch was also inspired by the Monolo Blahnik Borlak pumps. A bigger and more striking Borlak pump buckle adorns the front of the Blahnik evening clutch.

The Manolo Blahnik Borla evening clutch is a patented design. On March 7th, 2017, the US design patent, USD780443S1, titled Handbag was awarded to Manolo Blahnik.

Below, the patent Figure 1, depicting a front-right perspective view of the Borla evening clutch, together with an image of the marketed product. The Manolo Blahnik Borla clutch shown is satin-clad with a Swarovski crystal ornament fully covering the front of the clutch.

References
Manolo Blahnik (website)
https://www.manoloblahnik.com/us/
Pithers, E. (Aug. 5, 2015). Manolo Blahnik on misanthropy, minaudières and the "divine" Mary Beard. Daily Telegraph.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/manolo-blahnik-launches-new-bag-collection-stays-independent/

Oh, patents - Manolo Blahnik Mina clutch

One more patented Manolo Blahnik evening clutch—the Mina clutch. Un-inspired by previous pump collections, the Mina clutch was designed separately from the six released for the Fall of 2015. The Mina clutch is a silver-toned minaudiere* with large royal blue polka dots, and a magnetic clasp closure.

The Manolo Blahnik Mina clutch is patented. The US design patent USD781052S1, titled Handbag, was awarded to Manolo Blahnik on March 14th, 2017.

Below, the patent Figure 1, depicting a front-right perspective view of the Mina clutch, together with a marketed embodiment of the design.

Note

A minaudière is a small hard-shell evening clutch, made popular by the luxury jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, in 1934.

Reference

Manolo Blahnik (website)
https://www.manoloblahnik.com/us/

Friday, November 7, 2025

Manolo Blahnik - Manolo Blahnik Lakka evening clutch (5)

The rectangular Manolo Blahnik Lakka evening clutch was inspired by the satin-clad Manolo Blahnik Borlak pumps. Manolo Borlak pumps are embellished with a jeweled buckle. The Manolo Blahnik jeweled Borlak pump buckle adorns the rectangular front of the satin Manolo Blahnik Lakka evening clutch.

The Manolo Blahnik Lakka evening clutch is a patented design. The US design patent, USD780445S1, titled Handbag, was awarded on March 7th, 2017, to Manolo Blahnik.

Below, the patent Figure 1, depicting a front-right perspective view of the invention design, together with two images of the marketed Lakka evening clutch. The two satin-clad, Lakka evening clutches, respectively in black and nude, both have a Swarovski crystal front decoration, inspired by the Borlak Monolo Blahnik pump buckle.

Thursday, November 6, 2025

Oh, patents! Manolo Blahnik Kana evening clutch (4)

The square Manolo Blahnik Kana evening clutch was also inspired by the Manolo Blahnik Okkato pumps. Okkato Manolos are satin pumps with a jeweled buckle. The Okkato buckle ornament is designed on the front of the Kana minaudière*.

The Manolo Blahnik Kana evening clutch was granted the US design patent, USD781053S1, on March 14th, 2017. The patent was awarded to Manolo Blahnik.

Below, the patent Figure 1, depicting a front-right view of the invention design, together with three images of the marketed Manolo Blahnik Kana evening minaudière, satin-clad with Swarovski crystal decoration .

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Note

A minaudière is a small hard-shell evening clutch, made popular by the luxury jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, in 1934.

References
Manolo Blahnik (website)
https://www.manoloblahnik.com/us/

Pithers, E. (Aug. 5, 2015). Manolo Blahnik on misanthropy, minaudières and the "divine" Mary Beard. Daily Telegraph.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/manolo-blahnik-launches-new-bag-collection-stays-independent/

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Oh, patents! Manolo Blahnik Nadi evening clutch (3)

The Manolo Blahnik Nadi evening clutch was inspired by the Nadira Manolos. Nadira Manolos are satin-clad Blahnik pumps with a diagonal Swarovski crystal buckle. A jeweled buckle that is designed as a handle on the Nadi evening clutch.

The Manolo Blahnik Nadi evening clutch is a patented invention. The US design patent, USD788454S1, titled Handbag, was awarded to Manolo Blahnik, on June 6th, 2017.

Below, the patent Figure 1, depicting a front-right perspective view of the invention design, together with three images of the marketed, satin-clad, Nadi evening clutch.

Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Oh, patents! Manolo Blahnik Okka evening clutch (2)

The Manolo Blahnik Okka evening clutch, inspired by the Manolo Blahnik Okkato pumps, is a patented design. The US design patent, USD780446S1, titled Handbag, was awarded on May 7th, 2017, to Manolo Blahnik.

Below the patent Figure 1, depicting a front-right perspective of the design, together with three images of the marketed design. The satin-clad hard-shell clutch, called a minaudière, is adorned with clear Swarovski crystals in a striking pattern.

References

Manolo Blahnik (website)
https://www.manoloblahnik.com/us/

Pithers, E. (Aug. 5, 2015). Manolo Blahnik on misanthropy, minaudières and the "divine" Mary Beard. Daily Telegraph.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/manolo-blahnik-launches-new-bag-collection-stays-independent/

Monday, November 3, 2025

Oh, patents! Manolo Blahnik Hangi evening clutch (1)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

In the Fall 2015, the famous Spanish shoe designer Manolo Blahnik launched a series of six evening clutches, each inspired by existing Blahnik shoes (called “Manolos”). The series comprised dazzling minaudières (small hard-shell clutches without straps), bejeweled with clear Swarovski crystals, and vibrantly colored satins—just like their famous counterpart Manolos.

The clutch designs are each patented. For example, the Hangi* evening clutch, inspired by the Hangisi Manolo Blahnik pumps, was awarded the US design patent, USD780444S1, titled Handbag. The patent was awarded on May 7th, 2017, to Manolo Blahnik

Below, the patent Figure 1 depicts a front-right perspective view of the Hangi design, together with four images of marketed embodiments. The images illustrate the model in black satin, and just three of the many vibrantly colored Hangi clutches, adorned with Swarovski crystals.

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Note: The name Hangi is a Turkish word meaning “which”. In this case, the handbag name is short for the many variations of the shoe series called Hangisi, aptly meaning “which one?” in Turkish.

References

Manolo Blahnik (website)

https://www.manoloblahnik.com/us/

Pithers, E. (Aug. 5, 2015). Manolo Blahnik on misanthropy, minaudières and the "divine" Mary Beard. Daily Telegraph.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/manolo-blahnik-launches-new-bag-collection-stays-independent/

Sunday, October 26, 2025

Oh, patents! Dolce and Gabbana handbag lock

On April 5th, 2016, the US design patent USD752950S1, titled Decorative element for a bag was awarded to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.

The patent Figure 1 is included below, together with a marketed embodiment of the decorative lock. The Figure 1 shows a front perspective of the patented design. The marketed embodiment of the Dolce & Gabbana lock features a black enameled flower that matches the black leather bag with which the lock cooperates.

Reference
Dolce and Gabbana (website)
https://www.dolcegabbana.com/en-us/

Friday, October 24, 2025

Oh, patents! Dolce and Gabbana Sicily handbag

The enduring Dolce & Gabbana Sicily handbag is a patented design. The US design patent USD609004S1, titled Handbag was awarded to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, on February 2nd, 2010.

The patent Figure 1 is included below, together with a marketed embodiment of the Sicily handbag. The marketed embodiment of the Dolce & Gabbana Sicily handbag shown is a size small, top-handle bag, in green leather.

Reference
Dolce and Gabbana (website)
https://www.dolcegabbana.com/en-us/

Monday, October 20, 2025

Oh, patents! Dolce and Gabbana finger ring

On April 3rd, 2018, the US design patent USD814331S1, titled Finger ring, was awarded to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The patent Figure 1 is included below, together with a marketed embodiment of the finger ring. The marketed embodiment of the Dolce & Gabbana finger ring comprises multicolor sapphires, 18k yellow gold, and a filigree design below the mounted gems, also shown in the patent Figure.

Reference

Dolce and Gabbana (website)

https://www.dolcegabbana.com/en-us/

Monday, October 13, 2025

Oh, patents! Dolce & Gabbana K perfume bottle

The Dolce & Gabbana K perfume bottle is a patented design. The US design patent, USD876238S1, titled Bottle, was awarded to Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana, on February 25th, 2020.

Below, the patent Figure 1.2 depicts a front view of the K perfume bottle. An image of the marketed bottle, together with its conditioning, is included beneath the patent Figure 1.2.

The Dolce & Gabbana K perfume for men has a younger counterpart, the Dolce and Gabbana Q perfume for women. Created by DMS-Firmenich Daphné Bugey, Principal Perfumer, and Nathalie Lorson, Master Perfumer, the Dolce and Gabbana K perfume was launched in 2019. The Dolce and Gabbana K perfume is a woody aromatic fragrance with Juniper berries and citrus top notes, pimento, lavender, sage and geranium middle notes, vetiver, cedar and patchouli end notes.

References
Daphné Bugey
https://www.dsm-firmenich.com/en/businesses/perfumery-beauty/perfumery/fine-fragrance/people/daphne-bugey.html
Dolce and Gabbana (website)
https://www.dolcegabbana.com/en-us/
DSM Firmenich
https://www.dsm-firmenich.com/en/home.html
Nathalie Lorson
https://www.dsm-firmenich.com/en/businesses/perfumery-beauty/perfumery/fine-fragrance/people/nathalie-lorson.html

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Oh, patents! Dolce & Gabbana Q perfume bottle cap

The Dolce & Gabbana Q perfume bottle cap is a patented design. The US design patent, USD984264S1 , titled Bottle cap, was awarded to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, on April 25th, 2023.

Below, the patent Figure 1.2 depicts a front view of the crown bottle cap, with the interlaced D&G logo on the cap's bottom rim. An image of the marketed perfume bottle and its conditioning is also included beneath the patent Figure 1.2.

The Dolce & Gabbana Q perfume was launched in 2023. The Q perfume was created by Daphné Bugey, Principal Perfumer at DSM-Firmenich, a Dutch-Swiss multinational. The Dolce & Gabbana Q perfume is a fruity aromatic perfume for women, with lemon, orange, and jasmine top notes, cherry and heliotrope middle notes, cedar and musk end notes.

References

Daphné Bugey

https://www.dsm-firmenich.com/en/businesses/perfumery-beauty/perfumery/fine-fragrance/people/daphne-bugey.html
Dolce and Gabbana (website)
https://www.dolcegabbana.com/en-us/
DSM Firmenich (website)
https://www.dsm-firmenich.com/en/home.html

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Oh, patents! D&G - Dolce perfume bottle cap

Dolce & Gabbana (D&G), the famous Italian fashion House, was founded by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, in 1984. The first D&G perfumes – Dolce & Gabbana pour femme (for women) and Dolce & Gabbana pour homme (for men) were launched in the early 90s. Since then, more than 100 D&G perfumes have been created.

The Dolce perfume was first launched in 2014. To date, the Dolce perfume line includes ten different fragrances: the original Dolce (2014), Dolce Floral Drops (2015), Dolce Rosa Excelsa (2016), Dolce Garden (2018), Dolce Peony (2019), Dolce Shine (2020), Dolce Rose (2021), Dolce Lily (2022), Dolce Violet (2023) and Dolce Blue Jasmine (2024). All the Dolce perfume bottles, with their sculpted flower caps, were designed by award-winning bottle designer Suzanne Dalton. The Dolce flower cap is a patented design. The US design patent, USD792767S1, titled Perfume bottle cap, was awarded to Suzanne Dalton, in France, on July 25th, 2017. The patent was then assigned to Dolce & Gabbana, in Milan, Italy.

Below, the patent Figure 8, together with a marketed bottle of the Dolce Garden fragrance*. Notice in the figure drawing that everything below the flower cap is drawn with dotted lines. The dotted lines indicate the parts of the design that are unprotected by the patent. Thus, only the Dolce flower bottle cap is patented.

Notes

*The Dolce Garden fragrance was created by Violaine Collas, senior perfumer at MANE S.A**. Dolce Garden is a fruity-floral perfume for women with magnolia, neroli, and mandarin orange top notes, coconut middle notes, and almond milk and sandalwood end notes.

** MANE S.A. is a major international fragrance and flavor production company, founded in 1871 in France (near Grasse, the perfume industry's capital city).

References

Dolce & Gabbana (website)

https://www.dolcegabbana.com/en-us/

Suzanne Dalton (YouTube) Behind the Bottle: Full Interview with Suzanne Dalton | LIBRE | YSL BEAUTY

https://youtu.be/OSwX9RGxL9s

MANE SA (company website)

https://www.mane.com/

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Unpatented - Gillbert, the Robo-Fish

Winner of the 2022 Natural Robotics Contest, the Robo-Fish named Gillbert, was designed to capture plastic pollution found in waterways, using a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that digests plastic particles to generate energy. In other words, a technology where bacteria breaks down plastic, and a fuel cell converts the energy released into electricity. As a result, the more plastic Gillbert captures, the more energy is generated.

The Natural Robotics Contest was organized by Dr. Robert Siddall, at the University of Surrey (UK), in partnership with the British Ecological Society, and various additional educational institutions and foundations (Siddall et al., 2022). The contest call was for robot ideas that are biomimetic and that do good in the world. In other words, a call for robot ideas that imitate nature. For example, a woodpecker robot that could test the health of trees, or a plant robot that could reinforce a riverbank. As for natural robots doing good in the world, this was understood as an action aligned with the goals to protect nature and to promote biodiversity, set forth at the conclusion of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15), held in Montreal, Canada, in 2022.

The contest was also completely crowdsourced, marketed to high schools and college students, mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom, but also open to “anyone” with a bright idea for a robot that “imitates nature and does good”. The grand part of the contest was that the winning entry would actually be prototyped. Prototyping performed by a group of robotic experts and engineers, hailing from such prestigious engineering schools as the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland (EPFL) or the Technische Universität München (TUM) in Munich, Germany, and the robotics labs at the University of Surrey, in the United Kingdom. Finally, from a research standpoint, the investigators hypothesized that the entries would reflect what people cared about most in the environment, as well as the problems they considered most pressing for engineers to solve.

Thus, Gillbert, the 2022 winning entry, submitted by a student named Eleanor Mackintosh, reflected the strong interest for solving ocean pollution, found trending most prominently in the contest entries. Additionally, the Robo-Fish prototype was 3D-printed, so that anyone could get a copy of the Robo-Fish, which also ran on batteries, and thereby multiply Robo-fish goodness in the world.

Gillbert, the name of the fish, would also invoke a significant aspect of the idea, considering that inspiration was drawn from basking sharks. Indeed, basking sharks swim with their massive mouths open to filter tiny zooplankton, krill, and other small organisms from the water. Their mouths have comb-like gill rakers to trap food as water passes through their gills. A passive raking system that enables them to eat a vast amount of food while filtering thousands of gallons of seawater per hour.

Mimicking basking sharks, the Robo-Fish, idea essentially consisted in contaminated water being swallowed by the robot and pushed out, free of plastic particles, through the Robo-Fish gills, covered with mesh filters. Specifically, a filtering system biomimicking basking sharks feeding from zooplankton, krill, and other small organisms caught in their natural gill filtering system.

Below, an image of the winning student entry submitted by Eleanor Mackintosh, and of the prototype put together by robotic experts, interested in Gillbert and the quest to rid oceans of their catastrophic plastic pollution problems. Indeed, by 2050, experts estimate that ocean plastic could exceed fish by weight.

References

Staff (Oct. 20, 2022). Robotics researchers turn the public's ideas into ‘robo-fish’ reality

– University of Surrey, UK.

https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/robotics-researchers-turn-publics-ideas-robo-fish-reality

The Natural Robotics Contest - Call for Entries.

www.naturalroboticscontest.com

Siddall, R., Zufferey, R., Armanini, Sophie., Zhang, Ketao., Sareh, Sina., and Elisavetha Sergeev (Oct. 19, 2022). The Natural Robotics Contest: Crowdsourced Biomimetic Design.

https://drive.usercontent.google.com/download?id=1iMKqAykrcCLJfywsCpNSS_QDLspiLXuL&authuser=0&acrobatPromotionSource=gdrive_chrome-native_view