Hook-and-loop fastener Mestral's patent expired, prompting a flood of low-cost imitations from Taiwan, China and South Korea onto the market. Today, the trademark is the subject of more than 300 trademark registrations in over 159 countries. George de Mestral was inducted into the national inventors hall of fame for his invention. The big breakthrough George de Mestral made was to think about hook-and-eye closures on a greatly reduced scale. Hook-and-eye fasteners have been common for centuries, but what was new about hook-and-loop fasteners was the miniaturisation of the hooks and eyes. Shrinking the hooks led to the two other important differences. Firstly,
De Candolle system De Candolle system The De Candolle system is a system of plant taxonomy by French (Swiss) botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778−1841). The first taxonomic system by de Candolle, who introduced the term taxonomy, appeared in his description of the plants of France, his "Flore française" (1805–1815), in 5 volumes dealing with plant species found in France. The De Candolle system is a subsequent taxonomic system. The abbreviation "Syst." in de Candolle's work and subsequent literature refers to his "Regni vegetabilis systema naturale". The De Candolle system recognises the following groups of vascular plants (references to "Prodromus"). Within the "Prodromus"