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,
Swiss-system tournament score, instead of ¼. After the second round, the standard pairing method is used (without the added point for the players who started in the top half). As a comparison between the standard Swiss system and the accelerated pairings, consider a tournament with eight players, ranked #1 through #8. Assume that the higher-ranked player always wins. Standard Swiss system After two rounds, the standings are:<br> 1: 2-0<br> 2: 2-0<br> 3: 1-1<br> 4: 1-1<br> 5: 1-1<br> 6: 1-1<br> 7: 0-2<br> 8: 0-2 Accelerated pairings After two rounds, the standings are:<br> 1: 2-0 <br> 2: 1-1 <br> 3: 1-1 <br> 4: 1-1