Pat Pending

When we were alerted to online retailer Pat Pending, it sounded promising: customers can buy exclusive rights to a design, allowing them to resell copies of a garment, or resell their rights to the design. Interesting new business model, right?

What would make this concept worthwhile, is if a customer could buy the rights to a truly unique design. Think a Threadless-like graphic on a t-shirt, or a quirky dress designed by a talented fashion student. (In their defence, Pat Pending is currently asking designers to submit designs that slogans can be printed in/on.) Buy and sell those designs, produce and ship the goods, add easy to operate, no-inventory webshops like Zlio, and you've created an innovative service that adds value for all parties involved. A bit like Etsy, the marketplace for handmade products, but for people who are better at selling than creating. Consumers across the world are designing and creating products, while others increasingly use the web to become part-time shopkeepers. An online design brokerage could match part-time designers with part-time sellers, each focusing on what they do best. One to start? If you do, be sure to let us know .
More at: www.patpendingstore.com