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Levi’s Patents

Many people believe that Levi Strauss invented the first of jeans, but that is not true. The original inventor of jeans was Jacob Davis, who assigned his patent partly to Levi Strauss's company.

Levi Strauss & Co.

Last Updated on April 16, 2025

Table of contents

Invention

Jacob Davis (born as Jākobs Jufess) was a Latvian-Jewish-born American tailor, who had not enough money to file a patent application for his invention, riveted pants (jeans). Therefore, he had been searching for an investor and business partner. Fortunately, Levi Strauss agreed to be Davis’s business partner, and Davis filed his patent application for “Improvement in fastening pocket-openings” on 09.08.1872. The patent application was initially rejected. However, after several amendments, the patent was granted as US Patent № 139,121 on 20.05.1873. Davis assigned his patent rights to himself and to Levi Strauss’s company, Levi Strauss & Co. Later in 1875, the patent was reissued with a broader claim as US Reissue Patent № 6,335, entitled “Improvement in pantaloons”. Moreover, the Davis’s invention was also patented as Canadian Patent № 3,361.

Original drawing from US patent № 139,121, entitled “Improvement in fastening pocket-openings”.
Original drawing from US patent № 139,121, entitled “Improvement in fastening pocket-openings”1.

Patent documents

Pocket fastening

CountryKind№PublishedFiledPriorityDownload
USPatent13912120.05.187309.08.1872
USReissue PatentRE633516.03.187527.02.187509.08.1872 US2
CAPatent336127.04.187406.04.1874

Endnotes

  1. Image Credit: National Archives and Records Administration (US). National Archives Identifier: 5928292.
  2. The filing dade of the related US patent.
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