Cozeaarhus

A Story Of Patent

”If we should make the best trousers in the world, how would they look like?” We asked ourselves that question one day at LAURIE’s product department. ”They must fit perfectly on your back”, one colleague said. ”And they must have a smooth, shaping effect for a flat tummy”, another colleague added – ”and still be comfortable, of course”. During the discussion, someone put her hand with her fingers spread in front of her stomach, and then the idea for Magic Slim was born.

The idea was to integrate a shaping function into the trousers front behind the pockets to achieve the desired effect, both at the front and back. However, we realised that the position of this function was crucial to whether it would work or not. And it had to be tested on all available sizes, i.e. size 34-56.

After some time, we knew that we were on to something great, and we started to consider whether we should apply for protection of this new development. Therefore, we consulted a lawyer specialised in trademark and patent protection. Our lawyer was convinced that we could apply for a patent.

So we did, but the US voiced their opposition. Our lawyer found that we needed some strong arguments why our specific innovation was new. Our shaping function worked – we knew that. The question was, however, what made this function so brilliant? It just felt right because it adapted to and supported the shape of your stomach, and when we realised that our function – unintentionally – was shaped in accordance with the position of women’s internal organs, it all made sense, and the patent was granted in 2010.

Our close cooperation with our supplier led to further reflections

We learnt so much during that process… Our basic thoroughness was in our favour. Our supplier is not far away (Turkey) so we could have a close cooperation with them during the process. It was interesting and meaningful to all involved parties to develop something new that actually worked. Moreover, our understanding of comfort and aesthetics were enhanced during the process as we tested a multitude of trousers of all sizes. An experience we took with us.

 

12 years after the patent approval, the trousers with the Magic Slim shaping function are still available in our product range, with exceptionally good feedback from our customers.

 

Our close cooperation with our supplier led to further reflections. At that time, we also had productions in India and China. With limited contact to the manufacturers, however, because of the large distances and requirements for larger quantities than we could meet. Some years earlier, we had made a basic decision that we would only leave our production with suppliers we have visited. Thus, we had also made a general decision only to manufacture clothing in Europe – because of distances, cooperation, delivery times, etc. – and because we wanted to gain insight into the working conditions for those who manufacture our clothing.

 

In 2014 we received a true windfall. A very convenient offer because we had gathered so much knowledge over the years which we needed to structure and incorporate in a more defined strategy we could all work with. And sure, we did…

 

 

To be continued…