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,
John Willis (inventor) equivalent symbols, one for each single letter of the alphabet. John Willis (inventor) John Willis, (ca. 1575 – 28 November 1625) was a British clergyman, stenographer and mnemonician. He developed a simple style of shorthand based on the work by Timothy Bright. Willis graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1592. On 12 June 1601 he was admitted to the rectory of St. Mary Bothaw, Dowgate Hill, London. He resigned in 1606 on being appointed rector of Bentley Parva, Essex. In 1602 he published "The Art of Stenographie", which was a new and more practicable system to capture speech in "short