INTEGRATED BUSINESS ATTIRE JACKET AND SPORTS JERSEY AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING ONLINE ORDERS OF THE SAME

Abstract

A business jacket integrated with parts of a sports jersey having a first and second layer. The first layer is formed of materials and styled to have the appearance of a business jacket that would be used for business wear. The second layer is formed of materials and styled and decorated to have the appearance of a team jersey of the type worn by members of a sports team while playing sports. A player number and/or a logo may be adorned on the sleeves of the business jacket. The business jacket may be adorned with a captain's “C” on the front. The business jacket may be of a complimentary color to the athlete's team jersey, and the player's name, numbers, and/or logos may be those that would appear on the player's jersey. A system for providing a website to process online orders of this business jacket integrated with parts of a sports jersey is also provided.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/745,158, filed Dec. 21, 2012.

BACKGROUND

The claimed advancements described herein relate to the never-before developed field of combining and integrating business attire jackets (e.g., suit jackets, blazers, and sports coats, hereinafter generically referred to collectively as “business jackets”) or other apparel with the visual appearance of individual player team jerseys of a professional athlete or other athlete. (The descriptions herein are not exclusively limited to business attire jackets and may be applied to other apparel.) Specifically, the present invention relates to a business jacket that has the name and number of an athlete adorned on the back (hereinafter referred to as a “Jacket Jersey”). The Jacket Jersey is also sometimes referred to as the Jersey Jacket. The Jacket Jersey, which would have the base color of a player's team home or away (or other) jersey, may be adorned with the number of the player and/or a logo on the sleeve. In some cases, where applicable, the Jacket Jersey may also be adorned with a captain's “C” or alternate captain's “A” on the front of the jacket.

In short, the concept of the Jacket Jersey is to achieve to the maximum extent possible the appearance of a player's team jersey on a color-coordinated business jacket that includes the actual player name and number for a player.

The claimed advancements described herein also relate to providing an Internet-based system that processes orders of the Jacket Jerseys.

The Jacket Jersey is believed to have utility and interest among those sports fans who are professional businessmen (or for those sports fans who prefer sophisticated attire) and to those persons who demand more formal attire in various settings, while also desiring to show dedication and enthusiasm for their sports team. The Jacket Jersey is a natural conversation starter and an interaction stimulator. It presents a nice conversation piece to which sports fans will undoubtedly relate.

The present Jacket Jersey is also meant to be amusing or entertaining in that other sports fans who see the suit jacket will subtly grasp the notion that the business jacket is actually a color-coordinated Jacket Jersey that appears similar to a sports jersey.

Accordingly, a combination business jacket and sports jersey is provided herein to combine sophistication and class with sports enthusiasm and team/athlete loyalty.

SUMMARY OF EXEMPLARY ASPECTS OF THE ADVANCEMENTS

In one aspect, a business jacket is provided that is combined with parts of a sports jersey. The business jacket/sports jersey combination includes a first outer layer that is formed of materials and styled to have the appearance of a business jacket used for business wear. Then, a second outer layer may be affixed to the first outer layer, where the second outer layer is formed of materials and styled to have the appearance of a team jersey of the type worn by members of a sports team while playing sports. The second outer layer includes at least a sports player's last name and the sports player's number.

In some embodiments, the business jacket combined with the parts from the sports jersey has patches of the player's last name and number adorned on the back of the business jacket, where it would ordinarily be placed if the clothing were a jersey, thereby giving the effect of a more stylish jersey.

In other aspects of the invention, additional sports player numbers may be adorned on the sleeves of the business jacket, for instance where they would be if the business jacket were a team hockey jersey.

In other aspects of the invention, a captain's “C” may be adorned on the front of the business jacket where the captain's “C” would ordinarily be adorned on a team jersey, such as for a hockey player.

In further aspects of the present invention, an alternate captain's “A” may be adorned on the front of the business jacket where the alternate captain's “A” would ordinarily be adorned on a team jersey, such as for a hockey player.

In a further aspect, the business jacket/sports jersey combination is such that the color of the business jacket is the base color of the sports player's team jersey, or at least is coordinated with the base color of the sports player's team jersey.

In still a further aspect of the invention, a system is described for providing a website that processes online orders of a suit jacket combined with parts of a sports jersey. The system includes a webserver that uses a computer processor to serve a webpage to an end user upon receiving a request from the end user. The system also includes an order processing module that receives order information from the end user via an HTTP communication and processes the order information using a computer processor. In this case, the order information includes at least a business jacket size of the end user, a sports team player name, billing information, shipping information, and contact information.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A illustrates the front of a standard business jacket that is known in the prior art;

FIG. 1B illustrates the back of a standard business jacket that is known in the prior art;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example of the front of a business jacket integrated with parts of a sports team jersey;

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of the back of a business jacket integrated with parts of a sports team jersey;

FIG. 3 illustrates a generic computer system that may be used to access the inventive system for ordering the business jacket integrated with parts of a sports team jersey; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of a webserver for providing a user with the website used to order the business jacket combined with parts of a sports team jersey.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with the associated drawings, is intended to provide a description of the presently-preferred embodiments of the invention, and is in no way intended to limit the forms in which the present invention may be construed or used. Accordingly, it is well-understood by those with ordinary skill in the art that the same or equivalent functions may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a typical business jacket that is known in the prior art. In FIG. 1A, the front of the business jacket is shown. As those with skill in the art will be aware, various features of the business jacket may be modified and FIG. 1A is intended to be exemplary only. For instance, the number, use, or non-use of buttons on the business jacket may be modified, the number, use, or non-use of breast pockets may be modified, the shape of the business jacket around the neck may be modified, etc. Any feature of the business jacket may be modified, so long as the business jacket remains a business jacket, without departing from the spirit of the invention described herein.

In FIG. 1B, the back of the exemplary business jacket is shown. Again, various features of the business jacket may be modified, such as the number of buttons, the arrangement of pleats in the back, the neckline of the suit jacket, the coat tail, etc.

Those with skill in the art will know that there are various names by which a business jacket may also be referred to. A few common synonyms for a business jacket include blazer, sports coat, sport coat, blazer jacket, suit, suit jacket, and the like. Those with skill in the art will understand that a sport jacket is usually worn as casual wear or weekend wear and may be matched with trousers that compliment the sport jacket, while a suit jacket is worn for business and special occasions and is matched with trousers from the same fabric. But for purposes of the present invention, the terms are used interchangeably and synonymously since the present invention is agnostic as to the pants that are worn with the Jacket Jersey.

The invention is referred to herein as a Jacket Jersey, which is a business jacket integrated with part of a team jersey. Applicant attempts to avoid use of the term sports jacket so as not to confuse the word “sports” with a sporting event or sports team.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention, namely for a fan of the fictional “Joe Player” from a professional hockey team. FIG. 2 shows the concept of replicating the appearance of a player's team jersey on a business jacket. Those with skill in the art will readily understand that any sport, any sports team, and any player (professional or non-professional) may be used in conjunction with the present invention, and that the example show in FIG. 2 is merely an embodiment. For instance, the invention may be used in conjunction with a baseball player, a football player, a hockey player, a soccer (futbol) player, a basketball player, or any other sports player as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the number of the fictional Mr. Player (number 2) may be adorned on the outer sleeve of the business jacket 203, 207. In this way, the numbers 203, 207 are usually small and discrete such that they easily blend into the overall look and feel of the business jacket. Likewise, a small captain's “C” 205 may be adorned on the front of the business jacket where the captain's “C” would ordinarily appear on the team jersey of said player.

Although not show in FIG. 2A, a small logo may also be adorned on the shoulder or sleeve of the jacket, especially in the event that the team jersey ordinarily appears that way.

Without limiting the application of the invention, hockey jerseys are specially situated for the present invention, because a hockey jersey ordinarily has long sleeves which are quite similar to a business jacket. In this way, the patches from the hockey jersey more discreetly blend into the business jacket. However, it is readily understood that the descriptions provided herein for a hockey Jacket Jersey are readily applicable to other sports as well.

The combination business jacket with parts of a team jersey may be assembled in a variety of fashions. In much the same way that the patches for the player names, numbers, and logos are affixed to an authentic jersey, these patches, numbers, names, logos, etc. may be applied (e.g., sewn, glued, etc.) onto the business jacket either by hand or by machine. In the preferred embodiment, the base color of the suit jacket is the same color, or at least color-coordinated with the color of the relevant sports jersey, so that the affixed patches and logos coordinate with the business jacket in the same manner as the player's actual team jersey. For instance, for FIGS. 2A and 2B, the base business jacket color may be red such that it coordinates with the patches sewn onto the suit jacket.

One potential problem in manufacturing the Jacket Jerseys may be that the inner lining of the suit jacket may present a hurdle to affixing the logos. For instance, it may be best to take apart the business jacket and remove the lining before affixing the logos. However, it is also possible to simply affix the logos without removing the business jacket lining at all, and in fact this is a preferred embodiment since a manufacturer may use off-the-shelf business jackets instead of manufacturing and assembling the entire “Jacket Jersey” from scratch.

Another method for manufacturing the present invention is to disassemble an actual sports jersey and then use those parts to adorn an already existing business jacket. However this disassembly process may be time-intensive and cumbersome, and thus if the patches, logos, and names can be ordered and/or manufactured separately it would be preferable.

As shown further in FIG. 2B, the sports player's last name (Player) 209 is affixed to the back of the business jacket where the player's last name would ordinarily appear on the business jersey. In addition, the sports player's larger number 211 is affixed to the back of the business jacket where the player's number would ordinarily appear on his team jersey.

Those with ordinary skill in the art would also understand that instead of an actual patch, other means may be used for the adornments, such as a print, plain dye, or any other type of suitable means. However, in the preferred embodiment, in order to give the portrayal of class and sophistication, an affixed patch will be used for all of the logos/names/numbers, etc.

FIG. 3 shows a generic computer system that may be used by an end user to access a system for processing online orders of a Jacket Jersey. The end user may use a web interface for accessing the order processing system, referred to as a “portal.” FIG. 3 shows a generic computer system for accessing the portal, and is not intended in any way to limit the claimed invention. The generic computer system shown in FIG. 3 includes a general purpose computing device 315 including a processing unit 303, a system memory 305, and a system bus that couples various system components including the system memory 305 to the processing unit 303.

Computers 315 typically include a variety of computer readable media that can form part of the system memory 305 and be read by the processing unit 303. By way of example and not limitation, computer readable media may include computer storage media 307 and communication media. The system memory may include computer storage media 307 in the form of volatile and/or nonvolative memory such as read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). A basic input/output system containing the basic routines that help to transfer data and information between elements, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM. RAM typically contains data and/or program modules 309 that are easily accessible to and/or presently being operated on by the processing unit 303.

The data or program modules 309 may include an operating system, application programs, other program modules, and program data. As used herein, the term “data” refers broadly to any digital information whether in storage or in transit. Generally, program modules 309 include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks. The operating system may be or include a variety of operating systems such as the Microsoft Windows operating system, the Unix operating system, the Linux operating system, or any other operating system or platform.

The memory 305 includes at least one set of instructions that is either permanently or temporarily stored. The processor 303 may execute the instructions in order to process data. It should be readily understood that in a web architecture, other processors located on other machines may perform some or all of the execution of instructions as well, depending on what business logic is performed by the client and what logic is performed by the server. The set of instructions may include various instructions that perform a particular task or tasks. Such a set of instructions for performing a particular task may be characterized as a program, script, software program, routine, software, engine, module, component, mechanism, or tool.

The system may include a plurality of software processing modules stored in a memory 305 (either temporary or permanent) and executed by a processor 303. The program modules 309 may be in the form of any suitable programming language, which is converted to machine language or object code to allow the processor 303 or processors to read the instructions. That is, written lines of programming code or source code, in a particular programming language, may be converted to machine language using a compiler, assembler, or interpreter. The machine language may be binary coded machine instructions specific to a particular computer.

Any suitable programming language may be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the invention. Illustratively, the programming language or languages used may include assembly language, Actionscript, Basic, C, C++, C#, COBOL, Coldfusion, CSHTML, CSS, dBase, Delphi, Forth, FORTRAN, HTML, Java, JavaScript, Lisp, Modula-2, Objective C, Pascal, Perl, PHP, Prolog, Python, Ruby, Scheme, Shell, SQL, and/or Visual Basic for example. A person with ordinary skill in the art would readily understand that it is not necessary that a single type of instruction or programming language be utilized in conjunction with the operation of the systems of the invention. Rather, any number of different programming languages may be utilized as necessary or desirable, and the above listed languages are illustrative only.

Also, the instructions and/or data used in the practice of the invention may or may not utilize any compression or encryption techniques or algorithms, as may be desired. An encryption module might be used to encrypt data. Further, files or other data may be decrypted using a suitable decryption module.

The computing environment used by the end user may also include other removable and/or nonremovable volatile or nonvolatile computer storage media 307. For example, a hard disk drive may read or write to nonremovable, nonvolatile magnetic media. A magnetic disk drive may read from or write to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk, and an optical disk drive may read from or write to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as a CD ROM or other optical media. Other removable/nonremovable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media 307 that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. The storage media 307 are typically connected to the system bus through a removable or non-removable memory interface.

The processing unit 303 that executes commands and instructions may be a general purpose computer 315, but may utilize any of a wide variety of other technologies including a special purpose computer, a handheld device (e.g., iPod, iPad, PDA, mobile device) a microcomputer, mini-computer, mainframe computer, programmed micro-processor, micro-controller, peripheral integrated circuit element, a CSIC (Customer Specific Integrated Circuit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a logic circuit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), PLD (Programmable Logic Device), PLA (Programmable Logic Array), RFID integrated circuits, smart chip, or any other device or arrangement of computing devices that is capable of implementing the steps of the processes of the invention.

It should be appreciated that the processors 303 and/or memories 305 of the computer 315 need not be physically in the same location. Each of the processors 303 and each of the memories 305 used by the computer 315 may be in geographically distinct locations and be connected so as to communicate with each other in any suitable manner. Additionally, it is appreciated that each of the processor 303 and/or memory 305 may be composed of different physical pieces of equipment, and will likely include other pieces of equipment not specifically mentioned herein.

A user may enter commands and information into the computer through a user interface. The user interface may include input devices such as a keyboard 311 and a mouse 313, trackball or touch pad. Other input devices may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, voice recognition device, touch screen, toggle switch, pushbutton, or the like. These and other input devices may be connected to the processing unit 303 through a user input interface that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port or universal serial bus (USB).

One or more monitors 301 or display devices may also be connected to the system bus via an interface. In addition to display devices, computers may also include other peripheral output devices, which may be connected through an output peripheral interface. The computers implementing the invention may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, the remote computers typically including many or all of the elements described above.

As shown in FIG. 4, a preferred embodiment for the system offers a client/server model of communication. In the client/server model of communication, one program (namely, the client) communicates with another program (namely, the server 401) for the purpose of exchanging data/information. Typically, the Website provider maintains the server 401 (i.e., hosts the Website), and the end user operates the client on his or her personal computer 407 or other computing device 403, 405, 409 in order to access the Website. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with various system configurations, including hand-held wireless devices such as mobile phones 403 or PDAs 405, multiprocessor systems, personal computers 407, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, laptops 409, and the like. The client usually consists of a Web browser, which is an interactive program that requests, retrieves, and displays pages from the World Wide Web. Popular Web browsers include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, and Android.

In FIG. 4, the host server 401 is a Web server for providing the portal. In other words, the host server 401 provides the Web site, database, application code, etc. for processing the orders of the Jacket Jerseys. In addition, the host server 401 may perform other inventive functions as described more fully below. Although a single host server 401 is show, a distributed computer environment may be utilized, including multiple host servers or a cloud computing environment. In any event, the specific topology is not important to the inventive methods and systems, and as such is not meant to be limiting in any way.

A person with ordinary skill in the art would readily understand how typically client/server communications are performed. In the typical client/server system, the client (e.g., browser on PC 407) communicates a request to access a particular Website to the Website host server 401. The server 401 communicates a response back to the client, usually providing the Website information and content to the end user. The server 401 can also receive data and other requests from the client, and the server 401 may additionally perform computing operations in order to provide the client with particular data requested by the client. The communication between the client and the server 401 typically follows a standard—the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP is the networking protocol that is the foundation of data communication over the World Wide Web.

Various networks 410 may be used in accordance with embodiments of the invention, including a wired or wireless local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), wireless personal area network (PAN) and other types of networks. When used in a LAN networking environment, computers may be connected to the LAN through a network interface or adapter. When used in a WAN networking environment, computers typically include a modem or other communication mechanism. Modems may be internal or external, and may be connected to the system bus via the user-input interface, or other appropriate mechanism. Computers may be connected over the Internet, an Intranet, Extranet, Ethernet, or any other system that provides communications. The communication may take place via any media such as standard telephone lines, LAN or WAN links (e.g., T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25), broadband connections (ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM), wireless links (802.11, Bluetooth, etc.), and so on. Preferably, the network can carry TCP/IP protocol communications, and HTTP/HTTPS requests made by the Web browser and the connection between the client software and the server 201 can be communicated over such TCP/IP networks. The type of network is not a limitation, however, and any suitable network may be used. Non-limiting examples of networks that can serve as or be part of the communications network include a wireless or wired Ethernet-based intranet, a local or wide-area network (LAN or WAN), and/or the global communications network known as the Internet, which may accommodate many different communications media and protocols.

Other suitable communications protocols may include TCP/IP, UDP, or OSI for example. For wireless communications, communications protocols may include Bluetooth, Zigbee, IrDa or other suitable protocol. Furthermore, components of the system may communicate through a combination of wired or wireless paths. For some aspects of the invention, such as for the transfer of payments, the communications infrastructure may include networked systems such as the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) network, and other communication channels known in the industry.

The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network 410. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

In some cases, relational (or other structured) databases may provide such functionality, for example as a database management system which stores data related to the services and consumers utilizing the service. Examples of databases include the MySQL Database Server or ORACLE Database Server offered by ORACLE Corp. of Redwood Shores, Calif., the PostgreSQL Database Server by the PostgreSQL Global Development Group of Berkeley, Calif., or the DB2 Database Server offered by IBM.

Although many other internal components of the network 410 and computing devices are not shown, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such components and the interconnections are well known. Accordingly, additional details concerning the construction of the networks and computing devices need not be disclosed in connection with the present invention.

The inventive system contemplated herein utilizes a client/server architecture to provide a website and platform for processing online orders of the Jacket Jersey from an end user. In a preferred embodiment, a user will type in the web address of a website, thereby initiating an HTTP request to the webserver. The system's webserver will then receive the HTTP request and respond with a web page to provide the user with content. Those with ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that a mobile app may perform the same functionality, although the technical nature is slightly different in how the operations are performed. In any event, once the user receives the web page content from the web server, the user may proceed to use a web (or other) interface to enter data to provide to the webserver. In a preferred embodiment, at least the following data will be requested on the web page: the sports team, the player name, the business jacket size, the user name, the user email address, the shipping address, the billing address, and the credit card or other payment information. In one embodiment, the chest measurement, waist measurement, shoulder width, jacket length, and sleeve length may be requested. In other embodiments, a jacket size (indicated by a number) followed by short, regular, or long may be used.

Those with skill in the art will recognize that more or less information may be requested from the end user, but there is at least a minimum threshold of information required in order to process and deliver the Jacket Jersey to the end user. Those with skill in the art will also understand that an account may be created by the end user, such that the required information is already or obtained or else obtained at a different time. The inventive system is flexible in this manner, but the basic information that must be gathered from the end user is then processed by the webserver in order to effectuate the order. Once the user has provided the information, in a preferred embodiment using a web form user interface, the webserver receives the information from an HTTP communication and then proceeds to process the information using business logic and the like to attempt to effectuate an order.

All of the processing logic and such that is already known in the art is not included herein but is capable of being used in conjunction with the present invention. In this way, a system is also described for processing orders to effectuate delivery of the novel Jacket Jersey to the end user.

Claims

1. A business jacket integrated with parts of a sports jersey, comprising:

a first outer layer formed of materials and styled to have the appearance of a business jacket used for business wear; and

a second outer layer formed of materials that are styled to have the appearance of a team jersey of the type worn by members of a sports team while playing sports, said second outer layer including at least a player's last name and the player's number,

wherein said second outer layer is adorned on the first outer layer.

2. The business jacket integrated with parts of the team jersey of claim 1, wherein the player's last name and the player's number is adorned on the back of the business jacket.

3. The business jacket integrated with parts of the team jersey of claim 1, wherein the player's number is adorned on a sleeve of the business jacket.

4. The business jacket integrated with parts of the team jersey of claim 1, wherein a captain's “C” is adorned on the front of the business jacket.

5. The business jacket integrated with parts of the team jersey of claim 1, wherein the color of the business jacket complements the color of the player's team jersey.

6. A system for providing a website to process online orders of a Jacket Jersey, said system comprising:

a webserver enabled to use a computer processor to serve a webpage to an end user upon receiving a request from the end user; and

an order processing module enabled to receive order information from the end user via an HTTP communication and processes said order information using a computer processor;

wherein said order information includes at least a business jacket size of the end user, a sports team player name, billing information, shipping information, and contact information.