What do Swiss patent CH295638A and burdock flowers have in common?
In the fifth of our IP for SME series, we look at the story of Velcro; from the idea generation to the practical invention - and how intellectual property protection has been crucial to Velcro's story and success.
Georges de Mestral was born on 19 June 1907 in Saint Saphorin sur Morges, in the wine region around Lausanne (CH). Georges was an early bird. In 1919, at the age of 12, he obtained his first patent for a model airplane (I was not able to find the patent number though….).
Intrigue to Innovation
Some time in the autumn of 1941, George was attending to his favourite hobby: hiking with his dog Milka in the Alps of Switzerland. Once back home, George spent a lot of time pulling 'burrs' from his dog's coat and his wool pants. Being curious by nature, he could not stop thinking how the burrs attached themselves so steadfastly to wool.
Looking at them under the microscope, Georges discovered that tiny elastic hooks were the reason behind it. It did not take him too long to see the potential for a new tissue fastener. He spent days and months in the workshop trying to duplicate nature - the testing was done by his children by walking with wool socks over specially adapted mattresses.
Perfecting and Protecting an Idea
Georges soon found out that creating the hook was the easy part: the trouble was crafting the loop for the hook to attach. After experimenting with multiple fabrics, he came across a test fabric to which a piece of nylon thread had been accidentally added: that was it! It was durable and created a strong bond for the hook to fasten to.
At this point he decided that the invention was perfected, and that the time was ripe for securing his idea: on 22 October 1951 at 7pm, he filed for patent protection (CH295638A) with the Swiss Intellectual Property Office. He named his invention “Zipper-less Zipper”.
The patent was granted in 1954 because the Velcro fastener was novel, innovative and industrially applicable. A snapshot of the original Swiss patent can be found on the homepage of the Velcro Company and the whole US family member is readily available here.
Additional IP Protection and Commercial Success
In the 50’s, he founded the Company Velcro IP Holdings LLC to commercialise the “hook-and-loop” technology he had invented. The Velcro® trademark was registered in 1958 - it is a combination of the French words “velour” and “crochet,” which mean respectively “velvet” and “hook” – to further protect his intellectual property and safeguard for the years to come.
The lawyers at Velcro have produced (themselves!) this hilarious video to try to dissuade people from using “Velcro” as a generic term, because when a term becomes too popular, it could potentially lose its trademark protection.
Commercial success was not immediate. The tide turned in 1969, when NASA extensively used the “hook-and-loop” technology on the astronaut’s suits of the Apollo missions: Omega’s legendary ‘moon watch’ was attached to the suits by a … strap. This would not have been possible without of course, Georges’ innovation, but also the correct intellectual property protection.
One of the first commercial uses of a Velcro strap was by the brand PUMA.
Current Day
The Velcro company, founded by de Mestral, still exists today: in 2023 Velcro Brand's annual revenue was $1.8B, selling about 55.000 Km of hook-and-loop/year. The company is still innovating today: in 2023, it expanded the family of high-temperature fasteners, resistant to temperatures up to 800°C. From the Velcro website:
“(This) culture of creativity is in our DNA and allows our global team of designers and engineers to create innovative solutions that solve real-world customer problems and make life easier. With more than 400 active patents and counting, Velcro Companies continues to revolutionise fastening solutions as we have over the last 60 years”.
Lessons to be Learned
An ingenious idea may come from “simply” letting nature inspire. But there is a rich menu between the idea and the assumption of such a market position, that the brand risks genericization: hard development work, perfect timing, clever commercialisation, and last but not least, continuous innovation to keep competitors at bay. The side dish to this menu is always the same: the right mix of Intellectual Properties!
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