elleball

Hey Yall,

I'm new here. In fact, just found this site today while looking for sample business plans for the tshirt company I am starting with two partners.

We are considering making our own tshirt for our line. We've got experience as seamstresses and one of us is a graphic designer - so everything is in-house design from start to finish.

I wanted to know, what is the process for protecting the design of our CUSTOM FIT once we've created the prototype? Would it be a patent? We feel that our real value will come from the perfect Fitting Tee but of course before putting out the line, we'll need to protect the design.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

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kimura-mma

Hi Elle. Welcome to the forum.

Developing a custom fit can definitely add great value to your t-shirt brand. But it is usually extremely difficult to get a patent on a t-shirt. There would need to be a radical new design or a never-before-seen type of fabric that you are responsible for inventing. If your prototype fits that description, you can apply for a patent at United States Patent and Trademark Office.

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hostingdiva

Yes, you would need a patent to protect the custom fit. As kimura-mma said, it will be difficult. But, not impossible. You'll need a great patent attorney to properly draft the application. You should probably do a patent search to see if any other company has received a similar patent. You can do a search here (the left hand section is for issued patents and the right hand is for patent applications). If someone was able to do something similar before, then you may have luck. But if you don't find anything, this probably means you'll have a harder time because, it seems to me, if it was possible, one of the larger companies would have done it already.

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aminaic

I don't think you can get a copyright to that. It just not fall into that category.

 

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bornover

If you have invented a fabric that no one on the planet has, you might get a patent on the textile. It is not likely you can get a patent on a pattern unless you are making a t-shirt for an alien with six arms; even then the patent office might still say "it's just a t-shirt with more holes".

How different can your take on a fitted top be in reality? In the world of fashion, if you hit a home run it will be copied, there is no getting around that, but you will make the lion's share if it is your home run. Don't worry, if you have a design (both in decoration and the garment its self) that people like and buy, then you will do well and have no complaints.

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