Innovation is not a walk in the park, but can it be sparked by a walk in the mountains? It certainly was the case for George de Mestral, a Swiss inventor who got inspired by burrs sticking to his dog’s fur during a mountain stroll in 1941. De Mestral later created what is today a multinational corporation with over 2100 patents and 1300 trademarks across the world – Velcro Companies, the producer of the famous VELCRO® Brand hook and loop fasteners. Present everywhere, from NASA uniforms to your toddler’s shoes, these ingenious fasteners show how one innovative solution can find its way to all areas of our lives.
The invention of VELCRO Brand fastener
One summer morning in 1941, George de Mestral, a Swiss amateur mountaineer, engineer and inventor, went on a hunting trip in the Jura mountains with his dog. Once back home, he noticed that his trousers and his dog’s fur were covered with burdock burrs. Surprised at the tenacity of the burrs, which are seeds that rely on their sticky nature to cling to animals and move to fertile land, Mr. de Mestral decided to take a closer look at them. After observing them under a microscope, he discovered why they clung so tightly: the burrs were covered with hundreds of tiny but strong hooks, and thus were able to easily attach themselves to animal fur and fabric.
An experienced inventor, Mr. de Mestral was able to quickly see the potential of his observation as the basis for a reusable, strong and reliable fastener that would have vast commercial appeal. While it took much time and effort, he developed his invention into a revolutionary fastening system that was simple in design yet stronger than other available options with the added benefit that it would never jam. Combining the first syllables of the French words velours (velvet) and crochet (hook), he named his invention “Velcro”. Today Velcro Companies is a multinational corporation and the world’s leading supplier of hook and loop fasteners.
Designing the first hook and loop fastener
While Mr. de Mestral knew what kind of design he wanted to create, putting it into practice took significant effort. Many people laughed at his idea, and he ran into various technical challenges.
Mr. de Mestral’s initial design consisted of a fastener made with two strips of fabric. One strip contained thousands of tiny hooks like he saw on the burrs, and the other contained thousands of tiny, soft loops, like the fabric of his trousers. When the two strips were pressed together, they formed an extremely strong bond.
The inventor soon found out that it was not so easy to recreate a burr from scratch; it took nearly eight years of research and development work with a weaver from a textile plant in France to successfully reproduce the fastening mechanism of the burrs.
In addition, there was a question of the material; Mr. de Mestral’s early designs used cotton, but after further research he soon discovered that nylon worked much better. It was stronger, did not wear down as much with regular use and could be produced in threads of various thicknesses.
With the product perfected, the next challenge de Mestral faced was how to mass-produce the fastener. It took considerable time, R&D and trial and error to perfect a manufacturing process that would yield consistent results. Entirely new machinery had to be designed to ensure each strip of the fastener was equal in fastening performance. Mechanizing the process of weaving the hooks was a significant challenge, but Mr. de Mestral was able to eventually develop looms and proprietary hook cutting systems to effectively mass produce his invention. These early manufacturing innovations set the standards for hook and loop fastener performance, consistency and quality.
Protecting Velcro innovations: 2,100 patents and counting
Anticipating quick and wide adoption of his new invention, de Mestral knew that protecting his intellectual property (IP) was critical to building a successful business. In 1951, de Mestral filed patent application CH295638 in Switzerland, which was granted in 1954. The following year, the invention was patented in France and the United States.
As de Mestral worked on improving his design and production processes, the initial patent application was followed by many others, for example CH359670, protected in Switzerland in 1962, and later also filed in France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain and the United States.
This approach to innovation, putting IP protection at the heart of the business, remains a cornerstone of Velcro Companies' strategy decades after its founder's original invention. Although the original patent has expired, the company continues to develop new innovations in hook and loop fasteners and to secure IP rights for them. As of 2026, Velcro Companies has filed over 2100 patent applications across the world.
To ensure the company’s innovative ideas are protected worldwide, Velcro Companies often uses the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system for international patent filings, and has filed over 220 patent applications through the PCT system between 1985 and 2025. From patent WO1986003164 for a method to adapt separable fasteners for attachment to other objects (1986) to patent WO2025212286, featuring fastening strips with grip tabs (2025), the corporation continues to improve its products and their manufacturing processes.
VELCRO Brand fastener: to the moon and back
With its IP strategy firmly in place, Velcro Companies was ready to take its invention to the world. Within a few years after perfecting his invention, de Mestral started branching out of Switzerland and began selling VELCRO brand fasteners in other European countries such as Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The company’s early days were difficult, as many people failed to believe that hook and loop fasteners could be successful. But thanks to de Mestral’s persistence and clear IP strategy, in 1957 a licensing agreement with Velok Ltd. of Canada gave Velok the exclusive rights to produce and sell VELCRO branded hook and loop fasteners in the Western Hemisphere as well as in the Asia-Pacific region. In return, Velok agreed to give Velcro Companies the rights to all IP subsequently developed.
With the product’s market reach expanded, the sales and press coverage grew. At the time, Velcro Companies marketed its product mainly to fashion designers and clothing companies, and a 1959 fashion show in New York displayed everything from diapers to golf jackets with VELCRO brand fasteners.
The biggest boost happened in the early 1960s, when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States of America used VELCRO brand fasteners in the Apollo moon missions. During the Apollo 11 mission, VELCRO brand fasteners covered approximately 3,300 square inches of the interior and exterior of the spaceship, and today the VELCRO Brand products that flew to space can be seen at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
The popularity of VELCRO branded products, especially in North America, allowed Velok and Velcro Companies to innovate and grow at a rapid pace. In the 1960s the two companies decided to merge to form Velcro Industries B.V., which retained all rights to patents relating to de Mestral’s invention.
Despite the media buzz, substantial sales in certain markets and improved design with more colors added to the range of products, VELCRO brand fasteners were still not deemed to be aesthetically pleasing enough for the fashion industry where they were often relegated to athletic equipment and shoes. In 1978 the patent for de Mestral’s hook and loop fastener expired, and a wave of competitors entered the market. It was clear that to survive, the company had to diversify, so it looked into other industrial and commercial applications of the technology. It also continued R&D to further improve its product, such as strengthening it by adding polyester filaments.
The company focused on supplying stable, industrial strength hook and loop fasteners that it advertised as being superior to those produced by its competitors. Thanks to this marketing strategy, VELCRO branded products entered the automotive, aerospace and medical supply industries, which became a large part of the company's profits.
As of 2026, Velcro Companies has offices in more than 20 countries, from Europe and North America to Asia and Australia. The company continues to manufacture and sell consumer and industrial grade products throughout the world - in fact, you can find VELCRO branded technology in baby diapers, a variety of medical solutions, oil, gas and heavy industries, as well as construction. The company’s products win innovation awards and address human challenges such as creating adaptive clothing for people living with disabilities. Today, VELCRO branded products are recognized around the world.
VELCRO trademark: from one product to a global portfolio
Velcro Companies has always relied on trademarks to build a strong brand name. The company protects its name, as well as the names of its most popular products, through trademark registrations in all of the company’s major markets. As of 2026, the company has 1332 registered trademarks across around 130 countries, including 14 active trademarks for Velcro Companies’ motto ORIGINAL THINKING. Many of these trademarks have been filed nationally, while others have been protected internationally through the Madrid system. As of 2026, Velcro Companies owns 19 active trademarks filed internationally through the Madrid system, including VELCRO (trademark 1067807, registered in 2010) and ORIGINAL THINKING (trademark 1579213, registered in 2021).
Because of the large number of imitations of dubious quality, the company takes a serious approach to its trademark strategy. The company has been so successful in this effort, that the word “VELCRO” has become a synonym for a hook and loop fastener in many people’s minds. To avoid the risk of the company name becoming a generic term and thereby losing the distinctiveness necessary to maintain its trademark protection, Velcro Companies has defined strict trademark guidelines. The company educates consumers through advertisements, product literature and marketing campaigns to get the message across that not all hook and loop fasteners are genuine VELCRO brand products. This is important because the reputation of the company is ingrained in the trademark, making it the company’s most valuable asset. Velcro brand products communicate to consumers a product with superior quality, exceptional performance and unsurpassed reliability.
The Velcro legacy: innovation protected by IP
From a curious walk in the Jura mountains to offices in more than 20 countries, the Velcro story shows how a single observation in nature can grow into a global business when it is backed by a clear IP strategy. Patents turned de Mestral's insight into a protected invention, trademarks turned that invention into a recognised brand, and a continuous commitment to innovation has kept both alive long after the original patent expired. More than eighty years after those burrs first caught on a pair of trousers, VELCRO Brand products remain a reminder that good ideas stick — but strong IP is what makes them last.
