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.
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 No. 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 No. 6,335, entitled “Improvement in pantaloons”. Moreover, the Davis’s invention was also patented as Canadian Patent No. 3,361.
Patent documents
Pocket fastening
| Country | Kind | No. | Published | Filed | Priority | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | Patent | 139121 | 20.05.1873 | 09.08.1872 | ||
| US | Reissue Patent | RE6335 | 16.03.1875 | 27.02.1875 | 09.08.1872 US2 | |
| CA | Patent | 3361 | 27.04.1874 | 06.04.1874 |
Endnotes
- Image Credit: National Archives and Records Administration (US). National Archives Identifier: 5928292.
- The filing dade of the related US patent.
Last updated on 12 January 2026