US Patent 12,453,391 B1 · Additional Patents Pending

Own the Next Evolution of Open Footwear.With Broad Utility Patent Protection.

A patented open-front sandal architecture, ready for established footwear brands to license and bring to market.

Working prototype · Black leather
Real Handmade Prototype · V.04
Sheet 01 / 04USPTO 12,453,391 B1 · Additional Patents Pending
Fig. 1 · Perspective view
Fig. 1 · Perspective view
Full-grain leather · Espresso
Concept · 01 Heritage
Soft-touch · Champagne
Concept · 02 Coastal
Performance webbing · Matte black
Concept · 03 Sport Tech
01 / 05

No toe post. No front strap. No ordinary sandal. Topless Shoes creates open-foot comfort while innovative adjustable side straps help the soles hug your feet.

Patent
12,453,391 B1
Additional Patents Pending
Granted
Oct 2025
Assignee
Comfy Toes LLC
Chapter 01 · The opportunity

The sandal has barely changed in a generation.

For fifty years the open footwear category has cycled the same three silhouettes — the flip-flop, the slide, the strappy sandal. Every one of them puts something over, under, or between the toes. Nothing has genuinely reopened the front of the foot.

Topless Shoes is a patent-protected architecture that supports the foot through the heel, instep, and adjustable side straps — and leaves the front of the foot entirely open. It is a new structural category, not another SKU on the wall.

Chapter 02 · Working prototype

Built, worn, tested.

A hand-built sample validates the strap geometry, on foot stability, and the open front foot construction on real feet, on real ground before a licensee commits to production tooling.

"The category has been asleep for decades. This is the first architecture that gives the front of the foot back."
Inventor · Timothy Flanagan
Working prototype of the Topless Shoes sandal
Physical prototype · Studio captureComfy Toes LLC · 2025
Topless Shoes! · CommercialUS Pat. 12,453,391 B1 · Additional Patents Pending
Chapter 03 · The licensing opportunity

Why an established brand licenses this.

Topless Shoes is offered to established footwear brands with the design, manufacturing, and retail scale to launch a new category — not a novelty. The patent, the working sample, and the technical drawings are ready to be handed to a product team, letting a licensee to quickly move from license execution to shelf faster.

01
A defensible new category
Not a single SKU — an architecture. The granted US utility patent protects an entirely new way to build an open foot sandal, giving the licensee patent protection for the entire new category with no direct competitor.
02
Range across material and tier
The structure adapts across leather, technical webbing, and molded synthetics — supporting entry, core, and premium price tiers under one protected silhouette.
03
Granted patent, ready for tooling
US Pat. 12,453,391 B1 · Additional Patents Pending is issued and assigned. A working prototype, patent figures, and technical drawings are ready to hand to a design and development team on day one.
Where it goes

One architecture, an entire product range.

The patented structure adapts across material, price tier, and consumer segment — resort and beach, lifestyle and fashion, comfort and wellness recovery, athleisure, pedicure and spa, travel and packable. One protected silhouette, an entire seasonal range.

01 · Heritage
01 · Heritage
02 · Coastal
02 · Coastal
03 · Sport Tech
03 · Sport Tech
Full range of five Topless Shoes variants alongside patent Fig. 1
Full range · Five materials, one patented architectureComfy Toes LLC · 2025
US Patent 12,453,391 B1 · Additional Patents Pending

Let's discuss
bringing this to market.

Licensing materials, patent details, and the private pitch deck are shared with qualified partners under confidentiality review.