Everyday IP: The history of sneakers

Some call them "trainers" or "runners;" others call them "tennis shoes," "basketball shoes" or even "gutties." But across much of the world, people know exactly what you are talking about when you say "sneakers."

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These seemingly straightforward shoes have a massive social footprint extending far beyond sports and into music, movies, TV, social media and other pop culture realms. This gives sneakers immense value not only in commercial terms but also as Intellectual Property (IP) assets. Brands with lucrative sneaker-related trademarks and patents work overtime to protect them. We examine how and why everyday footwear sprang to dizzying heights.

Origins and etymology

The earliest "sneakers" debuted in , made by the England-based New Liverpool Rubber Company, and were immediately notable as the world's first rubber-soled shoes. They were often called "beach shoes" (referencing a place you would likely see them worn) or "plimsolls" (in connection to the Plimsoll line where a fully-laden ship's hull meets the water's surface). Elsewhere, these early sneakers and their like were called tennis shoes.

The term "sneakers" originates in the United States, but its derivation was incorrectly documented until recently. Because the word appeared in a Keds advertisement, many thought that marketer Henry McKinney had coined it. In , researcher Andrew Newman found an Boston Journal of Education article that used "sneakers" with regard to children sneaking up on teachers thanks to their shoes' soft soles.

Growing popularity

From the s to the s, sneaker designs saw some notable developments. Reebok's early success in the closing years of the 19th century (back when it was J.W. Foster and Sons) stemmed from its leather running shoes, which used metal spikes to give wearers a better grip. In Germany, Adolf "Adi" Dassler and his older brother Rudolf began making running and football shoes in the s. Both types were made of leather, but the football variant used studs, which provided more grip and control on grass than spikes.

Adi and Rudolf Dassler set up their first shoe factory in Herzogenaurach in the early s. To this day, the reason for their eventual falling out remains a mystery, even for the rival companies they went on to found. (Image credit: Wikipedia)

Other inventions of the time included Converse's basketball sneakers, featuring rubber soles and high-top canvas uppers. These gave more support to the ankle and heel (for that time) than other non-leather versions. It is unclear if any one individual devised these innovations &#; but it certainly was not semi-pro basketball player Chuck Taylor.

All the same, Taylor's brand ambassadorship as a traveling salesman inspired Converse to connect him to its IP. Putting his impressive skills on display, he promoted the shoes at basketball seminars across the United States, sending eager spectators in droves to sponsoring local retailers. Realizing his far-reaching popularity, the company added Taylor's signature to its five-point star logo in . That symbol, and the largely unchanged high-top Converse sneaker, are still well recognized to this day.

Meanwhile, in , the world watched in awe as U.S. running star Jesse Owens dominated at the Olympics in Berlin. It did not go unnoticed that the sneakers he wore en route to four gold medals were created by the Dassler brothers.

War and IPs

The Second World War curtailed sneaker production and innovation for even the biggest brands. Many manufacturers converted factory operations to rubber production, but Converse enjoyed the benefits of U.S. Army contracts. The Dasslers, meanwhile, found their shoe factory forced to produce "Panzerschreck" ("tank terror") anti-tank weapons in . After the war ended, their association with Owens' triumphs meant that the occupying U.S. servicemen were enthusiastic about getting their hands on (and feet into) a pair of Dassler sneakers. The company quickly resurged as sales exploded.

The Dasslers also understood the value of IP &#; perhaps more so than any sneaker designers to date. However, after long-simmering tensions ended their joint shoe business, the brothers established rival factories in their hometown of Herzogenaurach. Rudolf was the first to commence operations, launching his "Ruda" company in January . Adi started a competing "Adidas" venture in August of the following year. On October 1, , Rudolf registered "PUMA" at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) and renamed his company. Ever since, the rivaling sibling companies have remained headquartered in the same town.

In , Adi Dassler convinced Karhu Sports, a Finnish sportswear business, to sell him its "three stripes" logo, allegedly for two bottles of whisky and the modern equivalent of &#;1,600! That symbol has been synonymous with Adidas since then and, consequently, a massively valuable trademark. By contrast, Puma's leaping-cat silhouette, while itself highly successful, cannot boast of the same level of renown.

Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman created the sole for his lightweight design using his wife's waffle iron. The resulting trend pattern was reminiscent of footprints left by astronauts on the moon, inspiring the nickname "Moon Shoes." (Image credit: Espacenet)

As the years went on, maturing demand saw various sneaker companies emerge. The s brought the creation of Nike and Vans, brands that eventually became hugely popular. But their success did not come about overnight. Nike started as the nondescript-sounding Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS), not adopting its current name and ubiquitous "swoosh" logo until and not gaining trademark protection for the design for another three years.

On the other hand, Vans only truly took off in the mid-s, as skateboarders and BMX bikers adopted the sneakers for the "sticky" traction of their soles. The company's famous "Off The Wall" slogan and logo debuted at this time. Testament to their "sticking power," they remain heavily associated with skater, BMX and punk-rock subcultures. 

In this same decade, Nike founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman focused on developments that are now common across numerous athletic and casual sneaker brands such as air-cushioned soles.

The endorsement surge and roots of sneaker culture

Football legend Pelé's preference for Puma and tennis star Stan Smith's Adidas kicks were fashion highlights of the s. But the s turned endorsements into a phenomenon: Famous athletes across multiple sports helped the logos of sneaker brands permeate culture like never before &#; becoming some of the world's best-known trademarks in the process.

National Basketball Association (NBA) prodigy, Michael Jordan, became a Nike sponsor in . The combination of Jordan's stratospheric fame, Nike's innovations and groundbreaking commercials by film director Spike Lee made the Air Jordan sneaker line an enduring favorite of fans and players. Today, Air Jordan is one of the most popular sportswear brands, and the "Jumpman" logo of Jordan's silhouette is still a slam-dunk, contributing to the player's netting of over $1 billion USD from the lasting partnership.

Adidas had a strong presence in the s, most notably through its longtime soccer connections and an established partnership with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, their biggest milestone of that decade was outside sports: Hip-hop group Run-DMC became the first musical artist to earn a shoe endorsement with the classic single "My Adidas" in . Meanwhile, Vans and Converse sneakers (especially the latter's high-tops) were being widely adopted by fans of punk, heavy metal and grunge music around this time. This imprinted Converse's IP into multiple brand-skeptical subcultures at just the right time &#; namely, when their function as basketball shoes had been thoroughly eclipsed by Nike and Adidas.

Chuck Taylor might not have designed the sneakers that bear his signature, but his indefatigable promotion of the young brand secured his place in storefronts around the world. (Image credit: lenscap50 - stock.adobe.com)

Top-brand sneakers have assumed a secondary role as status symbols, making them a prime target for counterfeiters and knock-offs.

Given the tremendous legal costs involved, these litigations are anything but frivolous. In the world of fashion and footwear, registered marks for trade dresses and brand names are the beating heart of market value. Properly renewed, these IP assets offer longer-lasting protection than design rights (or, where applicable, patents) since copyrights do not apply to garments and apparel.

The profitability of the footwear market contributes to the urgency with which sneaker brands fight against infringement &#; and the persistence with which infringers and counterfeiters break the law. Non-athletic (or "athleisure") sneakers generated approximately $73 billion in worldwide revenue during , with athletic footwear accounting for an additional $50 billion. Yet the counterfeit sneaker market in was estimated to be worth up to $450 billion, some five and a half times the legitimate market at that time.

In the grand narrative of IP, sneakers are a standout example of value enhancement. Hence, appropriate registration and enforcement strategies are vital for keeping your IP rights on track. The experts at Dennemeyer go the extra mile to ensure your trademarks, patents and design are fully protected, so you and your brand can keep on running.

Leather jackets. Blue jeans. Cool, collected confidence.

In the realm of style, there are but few true icons.

As trend cycles twist and turn, even wardrobe staples as traditional as aviator sunglasses may find themselves suddenly out of favor. However, while fickle fashions ebb and flow, one single piece of footwear has outlasted all others: the white low-top tennis shoe.

For spring, summer, and fall, this single shoe represents a modern-day Triple Crown of footwear: it is lightweight, refined, and versatile to a tee. Yet, with a legacy spanning centuries, the first modern &#;sneaker&#; also represents both living history and ageless style.

One hundred years ago, Einstein had only published his first paper and the Ottoman Empire wasn&#;t just a clever name for a furniture store. With our world changing so dramatically in the century since its creation, how did the tennis low-top turn out so&#; right?

To truly understand what makes the low-top tennis shoe so iconic, we have to start at the beginning. In &#;s England, a revolutionary canvas/rubber shoe that looked like a boat&#;s hull was starting to make waves. These &#;plimsolls&#; (a nickname gained from their rubber toecap&#;s resemblance to the &#;Plimsoll line&#; on a boat), as they were called, represented a crude solution to a pervasive problem: while traditional leather-soled sports derbies did fine in ideal conditions, the vulcanized rubber soles introduced by Charles Goodyear beginning in the &#;s were both cheaper and more adaptable for nearly every manner of sports. Gluing a cheap canvas upper to a vulcanized rubber sole, then, represented a simple, cost-effective athletic shoe for all ages &#; what early plimsolls lacked in refinement, they redoubled in pure economic sense.

The first true improvements to the plimsoll came with the addition of cross-hatching to the shoes&#; rubber sole, providing extra grip for no additional cost. As a result, these early canvas-and-carved-rubber plimsolls began to gain favor with sportsmen for their comfort and reliability during high-movement sports like tennis.

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You can probably guess where this is going.

By the early &#;s, examples of British sporting &#;sneakers&#; (so named because their rubber bottoms made them quieter than lugged boot outsoles) had gained enough popularity in the United States to encourage the very first American sneaker production. However, it wouldn&#;t be until &#; exactly one hundred years ago &#; that the first mass-market canvas sneaker would hit stores.

While the interwar years brought about few major advances in the shoes themselves, a newfound focus on international cooperation provided a wholly new arena for these early canvas sneakers to be seen: the Olympics.

Tennis players at the Antwerp Summer Olympics. 

Even though Tennis disappeared from the Olympic program in , enough sneakers were in circulation to make them the footwear of choice amongst the entire athletic field. This international notoriety (and omnipresent spotlight, from the playing field to the medal stand) made low-top white sneakers both cultural symbol and sportswear signal. As Jordans are to society today, early sneakers were to interwar America: then, wearing low-top white sneakers meant you were athletic &#; or, at least, dressed like it. 

Before the end of the &#;s, sneakers had transformed from curiosity to gold standard. The rising popularity of American basketball encouraged new technological developments, yet, it was the humble white low-top that remained the &#;sneaker,&#; distilled. In , the now-defunct French brand Spring Court would introduce the first canvas tennis shoe with built-in &#;ventilation channels,&#; keeping the unadorned all-white silhouette that had by then become court dress code (see: Wimbledon) while innovating in the name of comfort and performance. The white low-top&#;s handsome exterior remained ageless, even as the gears of progress turned steadily under the hood.

For the next decade or so, sneaker development took a backseat to more pressing industrial needs. You can probably guess why. However, after World War II, the beginnings of an American economic boom afforded both young parents and Baby Boom children alike unprecedented opportunities for leisure, often in the form of sports and games. All across society, dress codes relaxed, and the beginnings of a style we now call &#;athleisure&#; &#; sneakers, t-shirts, and clothes made for comfort and movement &#; began to take form. Yet, throughout this period of great change, the white low-top tennis shoe remained relatively the same.

Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall compete at Wimbledon (c. 's)

At the same time, sneakers were more popular than ever, boosting the iconic, decades-old silhouette to never-before-seen heights. That is, until the Boom.

In the &#;s, America&#;s first mass-market sporting fad took hold. The &#;Tennis Boom,&#; as it would later be known, was equal parts enthusiasm and hysteria: suddenly, millions nationwide wanted to hit the courts. But, before they did, every single one of them needed the proper attire. Ergo, sales of tennis shoes (especially the then-iconic &#;white low-top&#; variety) boomed in addition.

American tennis great Jack Kramer competing in .

Canvas tennis shoes were the yoga pants of their day &#; standard-issue performance sporting turned into cultural membership. Then, the cows got involved.

With the Tennis Boom in full swing, athletic shoe makers finally had the public demand necessary to seek out innovation. In a highly-agile sport like tennis, canvas shoes provided little responsiveness to players cutting around the court: the cloth upper was just too flimsy for all that lateral force. The shoes were altogether light and flexible, but north of the outsole, your standard white low-top was, well, 70 years old. Queue the cows.

In the late &#;s, the first-ever leather tennis shoe, the &#;Robert Halliet,&#; was introduced. Just like that, the sports world changed overnight. The Haillet kept all of the same aesthetics of the classic &#;plimsolls,&#; but rendered the white low-top design in supple-yet-durable leather, keeping the athlete&#;s foot locked in and providing a better backstop for any quick movements on court. It was a simple materials change that would prove a groundbreaking innovation.

Pete Sampras, one of the greatest to ever play, in leather tennis shoes (c. 's)  

Another bonus of the new leather upper? It looked phenomenal.

By the late &#;s, white leather low-tops were a cultural style staple, for both men and women alike. Later advances in materials technology may have benched the white leather low-top from its sporting duty, but the combination of a handsome, sturdy upper with a streamlined silhouette shaped by decades on the court remains the gold medal in style.

While nearly every major brand today adds their own take to the silhouette, no heel tab or logo could ever overshadow this iconic shoe&#;s championship DNA. Lightweight, refined, and versatile to a tee: even after a century&#;s worth of match play, the white low-top tennis shoe remains a Grand Slam.       

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