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

Monday, June 22, 2026

Oh, patents! HOKA (1)

The term HOKA, meaning “to fly over the earth” in the Maori language of New Zealand, depicts the silhouette of a bird soaring on the brand name “O”. The brand name HOKA is consonant with the founders’ desire to design footwear that would properly cushion trail running, while providing propulsion for speed that would be as effortless and exhilarating as downhill skiing. A sport all too familiar to both founders, born and raised in the French Alps, having nurtured a life-long love of the outdoors, skiing in particular. Thus, according to Jean-Luc Diard, one of the co-founders, HOKA footwear was designed XXXL (i.e., both extra, extra, extra light, and extra, extra, extra large) to harness the required patented performances enabling users to "fly over the earth" running, jogging or walking.

HOKA was founded in Annecy (France) in 2009, gaining almost immediate traction within the sports community. Deckers, the American, multinational, shoe and apparel company then acquired HOKA in 2013, transforming HOKA into a very popular international, multi-million-dollar business.

Propulsion and cushioning in HOKA footwear for running, jogging or walking, is a patented invention. The US utility patent, US12022912B2, titled Footwear with stabilizing sole, was awarded on July 2nd, 2024, to Jean-Luc Diard, (FR); Stephen Liu, (CN); Vincent Bouillard, (FR) and Christophe Aubonnet, (FR). The patent is assigned to Deckers Outdoor Corporation in Goleta, California.

The patent recites stabilizing footwear with inventive cushioning and suspension to harness the problem of shock absorption when the user’s body impacts the ground. The force of impact for each foot striking the ground is 5 times the user’s weight, with the highest impact at the heel area. When properly channeled and cushioned, the force of impact also serves to propulse the body forward. Thus, the invention footwear cleverly addresses the forces of impact and propulsion in the design of HOKA soles.

Figure 1, extracted from the patent, depicts a right side view of the HOKA invention footwear 20, comprising a sole 22 with a midsole 24 and an outsole 26. The outsole 26 has a bottom surface 112, in contact with the ground 34. The midsole 24, which provides cushioning, extends from a heel portion 30 to a toe portion 36. The midsole 24 has three thicknesses: T1 at the heel 30 portion, measuring 3.5 to 4.5 cm; T2 at midfoot 38, measuring 4 to 6 cm; and T3, measuring 3 to 5 cm at the forefoot 40 of the footwear. The midsole 24 also has a certain height from the ground 34 at the heel portion and another height from the ground 34 at the toe portion 36, so that the midsole curves down from the heel portion 30 to the midfoot 38, and then curves up from the midfoot 38 to the toe portion 36. Both midsole curves are part of what is designated Metarocker™ technology for HOKA marketing, designed to assist in propelling the body forward with each stride.

A strap 110 is positioned above the heel portion 30 that the user can grab to adjust the footwear. A wider stabilizing portion 44 beneath the rear portion 86 of the midsole 24, extends beyond the midsole 24 to provide balance and stability on various uneven surfaces, such as on trails. The side 98 of the vamp 96 has tabs 102 with loops, and tabs 106 with holes, to enable threading of laces. A tongue 54 forms part of the upper 28, connected to the sole.

To further propel the body forward various carbon fiber or metal supports are embedded in the sole, depending on the model. Figure 76 depicts one embodiment of the Metarocker™ sole support 446. This support 446 comprises a first support member 448 with an upper part 452 and a lower part 456; and a second support member 450 with a support part 458 and a lower part 460. The support is designed to flex and release with each stride, to enhance propulsion.

The abstract of the invention is included below, together with an image of one the many HOKA footwear models, specifically the Speedgoat 6 GTX for women.

A footwear component that includes a sole including a recessed area and a support member positioned in the recessed area, where the support member includes a main support, a front support that extends at least partially over a front end of the main support, and a rear support that extends at least partially below a rear end of the main support. A cushion member is positioned between the front support and the main support or the rear support and the main support, where the cushion member is configured to control movement of the front support or the rear support. [Abstract US12022912B2]

References

Deckers Brands

https://www.deckers.com/

HOKA (website)

https://www.hoka.com/en/us

HOKA (Aug, 21, 2024) Humans of Hoka. Interview with the founders Nicolas Mermoud and JL Diard. Hoka.com
https://www.hoka.com/en/us/blog-post/?id=humans-of-hoka-the-founders

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Oh, patents! The SoftFoot Pro, a motorless robotic foot.

Designed at the Italian Institute of Technology (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia), the fully passive (motorless), anthropomorphic and flexible SoftFoot Pro was invented to improve the state of the art in prosthetic feet, preferably fitted to a human limb, but also compatible with a humanoid robot. Specifically, the Softfoot Pro was designed to remedy the incidence of falls among lower limb prosthetic users (LLPUs), 50% of whom experience falls at least once a year, resulting in additional injury (Pace, A., Dimitrov, H., Jakubowitz, E. et al. (2026).

Indeed, according to the inventors, the prior art of prosthetic feet is generally too rigid and/or heavy to readily negotiate uneven or rugged terrain. In turn, stepping on obstacles risks destabilizing and altering the LLPUs’ gait, invoking a fall or long-term sequela such as osteoarthritis. Surface obstacles also place an extra burden on the cognition of LLPUs in the effort to alter their stride, and the extra attention required to successfully negotiate uneven-surface hurdles. Thus, the SoftFoot Pro was created to conform to uneven surfaces, even slippery ones. Ultimately, the SoftFoot Pro was designed to respond to any surface, while creating a comfortable and easy stride for LLPUs, and minimizing cognitive stress. Because of its designed anthropomorphic flexibility, emulating the tarsus, metatarsus, and phalanges skeletal anatomy, as well as the plantar fascia, the SoftFoot Pro also facilitates the performance of everyday tasks, such as bending on one knee to tie a shoelace.

The SoftFoot Pro invention is recited in the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) patent WO2026003774A1, titled Robotic foot. The patent was awarded on February 1st, 2026, to seven inventors: Antonio Bicchi, Manuel Giuseppe Catalano, Giorgio Grioli, Manel Barbarossa, Emanuele Sessa, Anna Pace and Matteo Crotti. The joint applicants were Fondazione Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, in Genoa, Italy, and the Università Di Pisa, in Italy.

Below, the patent Figure 1 depicting a perspective view of the SoftFoot Pro (1), together with the Abstract of the invention, indexing the drawing. In a nutshell, the patent Figure 1 depicts the titanium mobile arch system (4) of the foot (1), with a hinge (6), defining a rotational axis, and connected to a joint (2), receiving the fitted human limb or humanoid device. The arch system (4) is connected to five parallel plastic chains, forming a surface contact organ (3). Each of the parallel plastic chains is made of high-strength automotive plastic modules, each connected via an inextensible transversal cable, attached at the heel (5) of the foot (1). The plastic chains have two rotational axes (3a) and (3b), with pairs of plastic links between each module. The inextensible cable system is meant to emulate the biomechanical windlass phenomenon, which stiffens the fascia to stabilize the arch by evenly distributing forces to the ground, whereas the plastic links provide flexibility to the modules, also functioning as shock absorbers.

A foot (1) is configured to rest on a walkable surface (1b) and comprising: a joint (2) to a prosthesis (1a); a contact organ (3) defining a deformable contact area of the foot (1) with the walkable surface (1b); a first body (4) defining the frontal arch of the foot (1), a first end (4a) proximal to the joint (2) and an additional first end (4b); a second body (5) defining the heel of the foot (1), a second extremity (5a) proximal to the joint (2) and an additional second extremity (5b) distal to the attachment (2); an ankle hinge (6) defining a main axis (6a) of mutual rotation between the first body (4), second body (5) and joint (2) and interposed between both first extremities (4a, 4b) and second extremities (5a, 5b). The foot also involves the contact organ (3) connecting the additional ends (4b, 5b); and also first elastic means (7) and second elastic means (8) connecting the first end (4a) and second end (5a) to the joint (2), respectively.

[Abstract WO2026003774A1]

Below, the close-up image of a marketed SoftFoot embodiment, together with an Italian Institute of Technology (ITT) Youtube video.

References

Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)
https://www.iit.it/
IIT (07-11-2024). Introducing SoftFoot Pro: a cutting-edge motorless, flexible and waterproof artificial foot. Italian Institute of Technology.
https://opentalk.iit.it/en/introducing-softfoot-pro-a-cutting-edge-motorless-flexible-and-waterproof-artificial-foot/
Pace, A., Dimitrov, H., Jakubowitz, E. et al. (2026). The SoftFoot Pro: an anthropomorphic and adaptive soft articulated prosthetic foot. Nature Communications 17, 1459 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-68194-2
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-68194-2

Friday, June 12, 2026

Oh, patents! Neo, the human-safe 1X housekeeper robot (3)

Neo is a mechanically human-safe robot. This means that a patented solution has been invented to make Neo capable of interacting safely with humans in an uncontrolled residential environment. Indeed, most robots operating in factories perform repetitive tasks in highly controlled environments (e.g., lifting heavy objects from one conveyor belt to another). These are programmed tasks where it would be dangerous for humans to inadvertently come between the robot’s task and its movement path. This would be dangerous because industrial robots are unequipped with means to react to the unexpected presence of a human. The high-gear-ratio motors driving industrial robotic movement would require a combination of dozens of sensors, each with complex control algorithms, which would be far too costly to enable the robots to safely interact with humans. Thus, in an industrial setting, a human could not push a robotic arm driven by a high-gear-ratio [1:200] motor, because even the smallest movement would create huge resistance from the motor, termed back-drivability, which is essentially impossible. According to patent specification: the insensitivity of a driving motor system scales with the square of the gear ratio.

The human-safe patented solution invented for Neo, the 1X housekeeper robot, is a cable-driven, very high-torque, direct-drive [1:1 gear ratio] motor with a Halbach magnetic array structure. This patented design lightens the weight of the motor, making limb movement far more accurate, and far better adapted to humanoid-sized robotic limb movement. Most importantly, the patented low-gear-ratio design enables humans to interact with the robot. In other words, a human can apply force and influence the movement of a robot’s limbs, without creating resistance, thus preventing the robot from harming a human. Additionally, direct human interaction with the robot’s motorized limbs reduces the need for costly sensors and their associated algorithms, to control the robot's limb movement.

The human-safe motor design invention embodied in Neo, the 1X household robot, is recited in a family of four patents, including the US utility patent application US20200083763, titled Human-like direct drive robot. The inventors on record are Phuong Nguyen and Bernt Ølivind Børnich, founder and CEO of 1X*, the company that produces and markets NEO, in Hayward, California. The patent application was published March 12th, 2020, and abandoned.

Below, the extracted patent Figure 6, together with the Abstract of the invention. The patent Figure 6 depicts a human-like robot 400, and more specifically, the robot’s torso 410. The robot's torso 410 further indexes two upper limbs 404, elbow joints 408, and one of the llmb portions 406, comprising a hollow sleeve that houses an (undepicted) ball bearing system for the cable system that drives the transmission of motor torque to the limbs.

An image of Neo’s fingers, stripped of their 3D polymer “skin” and knitted cover, is also included below the abstract.

The present disclosure relates to a motor, in particular a compact, lightweight, and high-torque motor. The rotor comprises a Halbach array magnet structure in which the projected magnetic field is directed toward the rotation axis of the motor and the stator comprises a plurality of poles within the Halbach array. The individual magnets making up the Halbach array have a thickness in the radial direction, with respect to the rotation axis, which is determined to be the minimum thickness required to stop demagnetization of the magnets when the maximum current to generate peak torque output of the motor is driven through the stator at the maximum expected temperature at which the motor will be used.

(Abstract US20200083763A1)

Note

* Former Halodi Robotics AS, in Norway.

Reference

1X (Company website)

https://www.1x.tech/

Oh, patents! Neo, the pinch-proof 1X housekeeper robot (2)

Neo, the robot, weighs about 66 pounds and measures 5.6 feet. Neo is whisper-quiet at about 22 decibels, which is quieter than a refrigerator. The robot runs on a battery for about four hours, and then recharges in about 20 minutes. Neo is completely wrapped in a 3D-printed polymer "skin", and a washable knitted suit, which makes Neo completely pinch-proof. This means that no one can get their fingers or hair stuck in the robots moving mechanical parts. Neo also wears customizable shoes. The video below shows Neo from the inside out.

Reference
1X (Company website)
https://www.1x.tech/

Monday, June 1, 2026

Oh, patents! Neo the 1X housekeeper robot (1)

The Norwegian start-up, 1X, backed by Open AI, released its first bipedal, humanoid housekeeper robot, on April 30th, 2026. The robot’s name is Neo.

As an interactive, residential home assistant, Neo is intended to automate household tasks. Tasks programmed for Neo to autonomously execute, such as cleaning, fetching (eg., a glass of water), loading and unloading the dishwasher, answering the front door, vacuuming, taking out the trash, unloading packages from a car trunk, cracking walnuts, plus more. Indeed, almost any task you can think of, since Noe learns by watching.

For Neo to learn the new complex tasks, you might schedule a 1X Expert Mode Session, where a remote company technician walks Neo through all the new tasks—in Virtual Reality, using Neo’s camera eyes. A process that raises controversy, considering that the remote technician, or anyone else, is gaining access, through the robot's camera eyes, to the inside of your home, during the expert session. To which 1X responds: "You have to be OK with this, for the product to be useful."

The video below shows some of what Neo is capable of doing.

Neo robots are produced at a 58,000-square-foot facility in Hayward, California. The first vertically integrated humanoid factory, plus 200 workers. In other words, this facility produces everything, from raw materials to finished robot, including motors, sensors, batteries and structural transmission system. The company plans to ship 10,000 robots in 2026, the first year of operations, and then scale to 100,000 robots in 2027. Neo costs 20,000 USD or 499 USD per month. You can order one with a 200 USD deposit.

References

1X (company web site)

https://www.1x.tech/neo

Open AI

https://openai.com/

Sunday, May 24, 2026

2026 European Inventor Awards - The Jury (3).

The members of the European Inventor Awards Jury included both Young Inventor Award and former European Inventor Award recipients.

Wolfgang M. Heckl (Chair) is the former Director General of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. He is Emeritus of Excellence at the Munich Technical University, Senior Excellence Faculty, and holds the Oskar von Miller Chair for science communication at the Technical University in Munich, where he researches molecular self-organization in nanotechnology.

Mark Kennedy Bantugon is the recipient of an EPO Young Inventor Award in 2025. Bantugon is an aeronautical engineer, materials scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur, specializing in sustainable innovation. He established Pili AdheSeal Inc., to bring to market an aircraft sealant and adhesive made from Pili Tree resin agricultural waste.

Catia Bastioli is the recipient of a European Inventor Award in 2007. Bastioli is CEO and President of the Novamont Group (acquired by Versalis, part of Eni, in 2023).

Esben Beck is the recipient of a European Inventor Award in 2019. Beck is an inventor, entrepreneur, and founder of Stingray Marine Solutions.

Nuria Espallargas is the recipient of a European Inventor Award in 2022. Espallargas is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Joachim Fiedler is the recipient of a European Inventor Award in 2022. Fiedler studied at the University of the Arts in Berlin and worked as a professional cellist in several orchestras and ensembles.

Marta Karczewicz is the recipient of the European Patent Office, life-time achievement award in 2019. Karczewicz is Vice-President of Technology at Qualcomm, where she has driven advances in data coding algorithms since 2006.

Gaute Munch is the recipient of a European Inventor Award in 2018. Munch joined the LEGO Group as an electronic engineer in 1997, and currently leads the company’s electrical and digital product safety.

Marie Perrin is the recipient of an EPO Young Inventor Award in 2025. Perrin is a chemist and entrepreneur. She is currently Pioneer Fellow at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), in Zurich, leading the startup project REEcover. A project that invokes an innovative process to recover rare earth elements from electronic waste.

Laura van't Veer is the recipient of a European Inventor Award in 2015. She is Chief Research Officer and the co-founder of Agendia, a molecular diagnostics company focused solely on breast cancer. She is full professor of Laboratory Medicine at the University California, in San Francisco.

Roujia Wen is the recipient of an EPO Young Inventor Award in 2025. She is the co-founder of Seabound, a company that builds modular, retrofittable carbon capture systems for cargo ships.

Reference
2026 European Inventor Award - About the Award.
https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/european-inventor-award/about-award

Saturday, May 23, 2026

European Inventor Popular Prize - Vote here! (2)

The European Patent Office (EPO) invites the public to vote for the Finalist who will receive the Popular Prize. The Popular Prize winner, solely decided by the public, will be announced on the occasion of the European Inventor Awards Ceremony, to be held in Berlin, on July 2nd, 2026.

The rules for voting are the following:

• You may vote for one to three inventors each day until the votes are counted, during the Awards Ceremony on July 2nd.

• Click on your first choice and then follow the prompts to accept the voting conditions.

• Registration to vote requires an authenticated email, or a social media account, the first time you vote. Click below to vote for your favorite inventors/inventions!

• Voting is free.

Click here to vote!

Reference
European Inventor Awards 2026
https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/european-inventor-award#finalists

Friday, May 22, 2026

European Inventor Awards 2026 - The Finalists (1)

On July 2nd, 2026, the prestigious European Inventor Awards will be conferred upon inventors competing in one of four categories: Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Research, and Non-members of the European Patent Organization. This year, the ceremony will take place in Berlin, Germany.

Below, the list of the 12 finalists and their competing inventions, in each of the four categories.

Industry
• Giuseppe Crippa†, Roberto Crippa, Stefano Felici, Riccardo Vettori, Raffaele Vallauri, Flavio Maggioni and team (Italy).
Invention: Probe card advancements for testing microchips.
Sample patents
EP2984492B1 - Testing head of electronic devices.

EP3794357B1 - High-performance probe card in high-frequency.
EP3707519B1 - Contact probe for a testing head for testing high-frequency devices.

• Evangelos Eleftheriou and team (Switzerland/Greece).
Invention: Improvements to the stability and reliability of digital data storage.
Sample patents
EP2277173B1 - Error correction coding of longitudinal position information.
EP2513798B1 - Reducing access contention in flash-based memory systems.
EP2260491B1 - Error correction capability for longitudinal position data in a tape storage system.

• Angeliki Triantafyllou (Greece/Sweden)
Invention: Improved enzymatic process to prepare tasty oat drinks with a creamy mouthfeel, for the lactose-intolerant and as an alternative to the high energy footprint of dairy milk production.
Sample patent

EP2953482B1 – Liquid oat base.

Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
• Jan Čmelík and team (Czech Republic).
Invention: Electrospinning of nanofibers to scale the reliable manufacture of nanofibers used for various industrial and medical applications.
Sample patents
EP2291555B1 - Method and device for spinning of polymer composition in electrostatic field.
EP2732079B1 - Method for application of liquid polymeric material onto spinning cords and a device for production of nanofibers through electrostatic spinning.

• Przemek Ben Paczek and team (Poland).
Invention: Magnetic propulsion retrofitting technology to upgrade rails.
Sample patents
EP3841249B1 - Magnetic levitation railway system.
EP3938577B1 - Vacuum tube railway system.

• Franck Zal (France)
Invention: Captured the oxygen-carrying molecule M101 in marine worm hemoglobin for the preservation of transplant organs and other medical therapeutic uses.
Sample patent
EP3008166B1 - Sand worm lyophilisate and uses thereof.
EP2748306B1 - Use of annelid hemoglobin for maintaining stem cells in the undifferentiated state.
EP2184977B1 - Use of a globin, a globin protomer or an extracellular hemoglobin for the preservation of organs, tissues, organ and tissue cells.

Research
• Adrian V.S. Hill (Ireland/United Kingdom)
Invention: Invention of an adjuvant for the development of a highly effective malaria vaccine.
Sample patent
EP2945649 B1 - Composition and uses thereof.

• Mikko Möttönen (Finland)
Invention: Cryogenic microwave sensor for quantum computing.
Sample patent
EP3714245B1 - Cryogenic microwave analyzer.

• Paula Videira and team (Portugal)
Invention: The L2a5 monoclonal antibody for identifying and targeting cancer cells.
Sample patent
EP3743726B1 - L2a5 antibody or functional fragment thereof against tumor antigens.

Non-EPO Countries
• Yu Haijun and Xie Yinghao (China)
Invention: Smart battery recycling, using "reverse-positioning" technology to convert spent batteries into ultra-high-quality new cathode materials.
Sample patent
EP4206141B1 - Method for preparing lithium nickel cobalt manganate by means of reverse positioning of power battery and use thereof.

• Emily Morris and Thorsten Stoesser (United States/Germany).
Invention: Novel distributed hydropower generation systems.
Sample patent
EP3682107B1 - Hydro transition systems and methods of using the same.

• Aníbal Montalva Rodríguez and Miguel Ángel Fernández Donoso (Chile).
Invention: Sample patent: Living biofilter for efficient air purification
Sample patent
EP3345671B1 - Systems for decontamination by means of a biofilter for retaining and recycling pollutants of particulate material from combustion fumes, and method thereof.

Reference

European Patent Awards 2026 - Press Release

https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/press-centre/press-release/2026/1362414

Sunday, May 17, 2026

Oh, patents! Blu Dot furniture (4)

The Blue Dot Rule Console, with two softclose doors and two softclose drawers, is part of a 5-piece Blu Dot Rule Collection, comprising nightstand, large dresser, chiffonier and 1-door 2 drawers console. The pieces are all about geometry, each resting on a powder-coated steel base.

The Rule Console design was granted the US design patent USD870492S, titled Console. The patent was awarded to Warren Young, an in-house designer at Blu Dot, on December 24, 2019.

The patent Figure 1 together with an image of a marketed Rule Console in solid oak veneer, are enclosed below.

Reference

Blu Dot furniture

https://www.bludot.com/

Saturday, May 16, 2026

Oh, patents! Blu Dot furniture (3)

The Blu Dot Host Chair is a bucket dining chair made of engineered wood and molded foam for generous padding and comfort. The Blu Dot Host chair was granted the US design patent USD890541S, titled Chair. The patent was awarded on July 21, 2020 to B. Bradshaw Bray, former Senior designer at Blu Dot. The patent is assigned to Blu Dot Design & Manufacturing in Minneapolis, MN.

The patent Figure 1, together with an image of a marketed embodiment of the Host Chair, is included below. The two broken lines running down the middle of the chair indicate that all portions of the design are covered, since nothing appears between the broken lines, which conventionally mark boundaries between what is claimed and unclaimed in a patent.

Reference
Blue Dot
https://www.bludot.com/

Thursday, May 7, 2026

Oh, patents! Blu Dot furniture (2)

The Blu Dot Neat Chair, shown below in charcoal wool-blend felt, is completely covered from top to bottom in felt. Under the felt, the Neat Chair has a wood frame, injected foam, and metal legs. The “footie pajama” design is built to offer soft, comfortable seating.

The Blu Dot Neat Chair is also a patented design. The US design patent, USD845021S, titled Dining Chair, was awarded to B. Bradshaw Bray, former Senior Designer at Blu Dot, on April 9th, 2019. The patent was assigned to Blu Dot Design & Manufacturing, Inc., Minneapolis, MN.

The patent Figure 1, depicting a front-right perspective view of the chair, is also included below. The dotted lines at the bottom of the four chair legs indicate that the small chair feet form no part of the claimed design.

Reference

Blu Dot

https://www.bludot.com/

Sunday, May 3, 2026

Oh, patents! Blu Dot furniture (1)

Founded in Minneapolis, in 1997, by college friends, architects and sculptor, John Christakos, Maurice Blanks, and Charlie Lazo, Blu Dot seeks to make good design accessible to as many people as possible. Everything that is sold at Blu Dot stores is designed in-house.

In 2018, the company was awarded the prestigious Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Museum, National Design Award, in the category of Product Design. The company was also granted several US design patents.

For example, the US Design patent, USD905978S, titled Seating unit, was awarded on Dec. 29th, 2020, to Blu Dot Designer, Scott Smrstick. The patent was then assigned to Blu Dot Design & Manufacturing, Inc., in Minneapolis, MN.

The patent Figure 1, showing a front upper perspective view of the design, is included below. The two symbolic broken lines, running the length of the design, indicate that all portions of the design are covered, since nothing appears between the broken lines, which conventionally mark boundaries between what is claimed and unclaimed in a patent.

An image of a marketed embodiment of the design, in velvet, is also included below, facing the patent Figure 1. The invented design is designated the Bloke Lounge Chair in stores.

References
Blu Dot
https://www.bludot.com/
2018 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award Winners
https://www.cooperhewitt.org/national-design-awards/2018-national-design-awards-winners/

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Oh, patents! Madeleine Vionnet [1876 - 1975] (2)

A US design patent, USD82687S, titled Design for a bottle or similar container was awarded to Madeliene Vionnet, on May 17th, 1927. The Art Deco-style bottle was made of clear glass with flattened metal edges.

Below, the patent Figure 1, together with a marketed embodiment of the design.

Reference

Maison Vionnet

https://www.vionnet.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooPBS18XeWeZo8qIDFq33CNMnhi4Le2XSOQLdP9Iq-Et4bHhWZw

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Oh, patents! Madeleine Vionnet [1876-1975] (1)

Copyright ☺ Françoise Herrmann

Born in 1876, Madeleine Vionnet was a French fashion designer, credited for having invented bias-cut dresses. These were dresses cut at a 45-degree angle to the fabric’s warp and weft threads, instead of straight along the grain. As a result, Vionnet was able to drape dresses, using the natural stretch of the fabric, which enabled her to create dresses that mold women’s bodies. Indeed, Vionnet was part of a movement in the 1930s that liberated women from the corset, creating figure-hugging garments that flowed, instead of restricting women’s bodies.

Madeleine Vionnet opened her own Fashion House, rue de Rivoli, in Paris, in 1912, which she was forced to close twice: once because of World War I (in 1914), and a second time because of World War II (in 1939). Thus, she was a leading fashion designer during the roaring 20s up to the Great Depression, between both wars. The archives of her work are preserved at the Decorative Arts Museum (Musée des Arts Décoratifs [MAD]), housed in the Marsan Pavillion at The Louvre, in Paris.

The following French utility patent, FR576334A, titled Perfectionnement dans la confection des robes de dames [Improvements in dressmaking for ladies] was granted on May 10th, 1924. The patent recites an improved process for dressmaking whereby the garment’s pattern, and the fabric’s ornaments or decorations, in this case lamé, are both anticipated and drawn, prior to weaving the fabric.

This improved dressmaking process was intended to resolve several problems with the prior art. First, this improved dressmaking process eliminated the costly and time-consuming process of embroidering lamé, or adding decorations onto the fabric, after it is cut and assembled for each client. Secondly, this improved dressmaking process avoided “mutilating” lamé designs and fabric decorations, pre-woven on a bolt of material, which was then subsequently cut to the neckline, armholes, waist or hip line of a given pattern. In other words, the dressmaking improvement avoided interrupting an existing motif, or wasting fabric to get a pre-existing motif to fit the garment shape and pattern. Finally, the invention would enable garments to be easily adjusted to size and length, without cutting into a pre-existing design. The fabric decoration, lamé, or other embroidery or painting, would be created within the boundaries (collar, arm holes, waistline) of an outlined pattern, prior to weaving, thus transforming the dressmaking end-of-process—garment cutting and assembly— into swift and cost-effective steps.

The patent Figure 2 is included below, together with an image of a marketed dress. The Figure 2 depicts a cut and assembled dress with the ornamental decoration at the top, perfectly fitting the neckline and shoulder assembly points, without interruptions to the ornamental motif.

References

Maison Vionnet

https://www.vionnet.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooPBS18XeWeZo8qIDFq33CNMnhi4Le2XSOQLdP9Iq-Et4bHhWZw

MAD - Madeleine Vionnet Puriste de la Mode. Catalogue de l’Exposition du 24 juin 2009, au 1er janvier 2010. Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Pavillon Marsan du Musée du Louvre.

https://madparis.fr/spip.php?page=recherche&lang=fr&recherche=Madeleine+vionnet&x=0&y=0

Vionnet (Instagram)

https://www.instagram.com/vionnet_paris/

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Earth Day 2026

Founded in 1970 by US Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day is observed by 190 nations worldwide. This year’s theme is Our Power, Our Planet.

Earth Day offers an opportunity to take collective and individual action: to protect the environment, to mitigate climate change, and to promote sustainable practices. Whether it is planting trees, making sustainable fashion choices, reducing plastic consumption, participating in advocacy, cleaning beaches, or donating, every action counts.

For a list of Earth Day events in your area (worldwide), click here.

References

EarthDay.org

https://www.earthday.org/

Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day.

https://nelsonearthday.net/

NASA - Artemis II Mission.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

UNEP (April 10, 2026). Humanity’s presence in space is expanding. So, too, are the environmental challenges. United Nations Environmental Protection.

https://tinyurl.com/4b9yzxh8

Saturday, April 18, 2026

Oh, patents! Voltpost Air Canvas

Voltpost also customizes their wrap-around electric-vehicle chargers. The customized versions are designated Voltpost Air Canvas, electric-vehicle chargers. They are second-generation Voltposts, wrapped around the top of lampposts, equipped with mobile-operated charging cables (shown in orange below) that are lowererd and raised from the lampposts' tops.*

Note

* The US utility (US20240198827A1) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WO2024059088A2) patents, respectively recite the Voltpost wraparound EV charger solution, and the mobile-operated charging cable solution, in second-generation Voltpost versions, mounted at the top of the lamppost.

Reference

Voltpost

www.voltpost.com

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Oh, patents! Voltpost EV charger design patent (2)

The Voltpost wraparound EV charger solution was also awarded the US design patent, USD1089074S1, titled Electric vehicle charging station. The patent covers the ornamental features of the EV charging station invention. This design patent was awarded to Joern Vicari, Jeffrey Borges Jones, Yang Cheng, Yerin Cho, Chiraag M Hebbar and Alejandro Enrique Vallejo, on August 19, 2025. The patent was then assigned to Voltpost Inc., in New York, NY.

Below, the extracted patent Figure 3 drawing shows a perspective view of the EV charging station, with the charging cable handle disconnected from the charging station. The broken lines marking the disconnected charging cable indicate that the charging cable is unprotected. An image of the marketed Voltpost EV charging station, located on Howard Street, in San Francisco, appears next the patent Figure 3. The neon yellow charging cable is depicted plugged into an electric vehicle.

Reference
Voltpost

https://www.voltpost.com/