Shoes with accompanying shoe technology can be granted patent rights if they meet the criteria for award of a patent.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
The first shoes known to man date back to around 7000 BCE. They were simple shoes made of bark. Since then, the shoe technology and industry has grown so much that as at last year, the global shoe industry was worth $400 billion.
According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office website, footwear was the third most counterfeited product in the European Union. The statistics though surprising, only demonstrate that the shoe industry contributes significantly to global trade.
What do shoes and law have in common? Shoes contribute significantly to the branch of law known as “fashion law.” They also contribute significantly to sports and entertainment law.
Many fashion houses and sportswear manufacturers are now engaging in continued research and innovation which has led to a significant increase in shoe technology.
The “battle for a supershoe”is now a thing in the sports sector where leading manufacturers continue to invest in technology to improve efficiency and performance.
In 2016, a leading manufacturer introduced a new shoe technology that would greatly improve performance. Since that significant development in 2016, many other shoe manufacturers have followed suit. They began to invest in new shoe technology. Many researchers were recruited and many shoe patents were filed.
The new supershoes were designed to improve athletic performance and comfort. The emergence of supershoes then led to new regulations by sports regulators, otherwise known as “shoe regulations,” regulating the use of supershoes in sports events.
The shoe regulations are interesting as they cover a number of issues. For example, they regulate the permitted thickness of a shoe sole and also limit the type of permitted technology.
The whole aim is to encourage human performance over technology, such that a lot of primacy is placed on human efforts as opposed to technology.
There are a number of shoe patents. Did you know that the king of pop Michael Jackson, was also a globally recognised inventor? Michael Jackson held a shoe patent over what he termed as “anti-gravity” illusion shoes. These are the shoes he allegedly wore when he performed the hit, Smooth Criminal.
Leading sportswear manufacturers have filed various patents to protect their application of shoe technology. For example, a patent was filed by a shoe manufacturer for a shoe technology that allows wearers to customise shoes through a patented air filled system.
Shoes can be awarded various intellectual property rights. Firstly, the brand and logo of shoes can be granted a trademark. The shape of the shoe, if unique can be awarded an industrial design which is the award granted to 3D shapes.
Shoes with accompanying shoe technology can be granted patent rights if they meet the criteria for award of a patent. Some traditional shoes that qualify such as the Spanish menorquinas have been granted geographical indications which are a type of intellectual property rights.
As I write this, I wonder where Kenya is placed in the global shoe trade. Do home-grown shoes like akalas qualify for intellectual property rights? I hope this article is an encouragement to shoe designers and innovators that there is money to be made out of the shoe industry. Home grown shoe technologies can be exported through licences and sales.
