On September 19, 2006, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent for optical illusion wear. Filed under bathing suits and exercise wear, this patent protects any clothing that has optical illusions on it to deceive someone into thinking the person who is wearing said clothing is slimmer. There are many ways to become thinner: exercise, dieting, dietary supplements. But even those methods might require too much work. Sometimes, creating a "false or deceptive visual impression" is all you need to achieve that ideal look.
In order to assess this patent objectively, we must recall the three pillars of a good patent: novel, nonobvious, and useful. Sometimes they can qualify for all three characteristics but are not feasible and are seemingly ridiculous. In this case, although the USPTO determined this idea as worthy of a patent, I think it falls under the "seemingly ridiculous" category. Furthermore, I actually think that although this product is novel, and nonobvious, I believe it is not useful at all. Perhaps my misunderstanding of the fashion industry does not make me a credible critic, but I truly do not see a world in which people would go out a buy "optical illusion wear" just so they could look slimmer. But then again, people do some innovative and sometimes crazy things to lose weight, or at least look like they've lost weight.
I wrote about the same patent. I don't think it was novel because there are common conceptions of how horizontal stripes makes one look fatter, contrary to horizontal ones. Therefore I don't think this patent should have been approved but it seems it is very easy to do so nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Doesn't seem very useful because we doubt it actually works. However, if this material really did significantly alter one's appearance, then perhaps it would be useful.
DeleteThis one I think is actually useful! It's definitely novel given that the design shown to give the illusion of slimming is different from typical designs used for the same purpose (i.e. vertical stripes). Given that, it is probably novel. Nonobvious? Yes, because you're using design to make someone look slimmer rather than actually going to lose weight, which is the typical way to go, I think.
ReplyDeletePerhaps however, the aesthetic of the clothing could have some value in the fashion industry. Thus, I would view it as useful in a different context. That being said the effect of thinking the person who is wearing said clothing is slimmer, is surely flawed.
ReplyDeleteI do think that this patent may be useful based on a business perspective. I would this patent would be more useful as a design patent. Depending on the fashion trend, companies may be into these vertical line design and if the patent upholds (although it may be unlikely); the company with this patent may be able to profit from it. The design would have to be unique such as how the polo is a timeless classic which does appear to be the case. With enough legal power, the company holding this patent could make it profitable if the optical illusion wear becomes profitable for a season.
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