Coca-Cola Contour Bottle Patent Announcement

On 16/11/1915, the United States Patent Office granted design patent USD48160S for the distinctive Coca-Cola contour bottle, a packaging design that would become one of the most recognizable bottle shapes in commercial history. The patent was awarded following an application submitted earlier that year by the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, which had developed the bottle in response to Coca-Cola’s effort to create packaging that customers could identify instantly, even in the dark or from broken glass fragments. The contour bottle project began after The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners sought a way to distinguish Coca-Cola from the growing number of imitators appearing in the soft drink market during the early twentieth century. At the time, competing beverages often copied Coca-Cola’s name, packaging style, and branding elements. In 1915, the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association encouraged manufacturers to create a bottle so distinctive that it could not easily be confused with rival products. The Root Glass Company assigned designer Earl R. Dean to develop the concept, reportedly drawing inspiration from the curved shape of a cocoa pod after researching ingredients associated with Coca-Cola. The final design featured a narrow middle section with curved vertical contours and a wider base and top, creating a silhouette unlike standard straight-sided bottles used by most beverage companies at the time. The patent application for the design intentionally omitted Coca-Cola’s famous Spencerian script logo. Historical accounts indicate this decision was made to strengthen protection of the bottle shape itself and preserve the novelty of the design independent of lettering or branding elements. By focusing on the form alone, the patent emphasized the uniqueness of the container’s structure rather than relying on trademarks printed onto the glass. Design patent USD48160S was granted to the Root Glass Company on 16/11/1915 under the title “Design for a Bottle or Similar Article.” Although the original patent illustration lacked the Coca-Cola script, the bottle later became inseparable from the brand’s visual identity. Coca-Cola began broader adoption of the contour bottle during the following years, and the shape eventually became protected through trademark law as a distinctive commercial identifier. The contour bottle remained central to Coca-Cola branding throughout the twentieth century and was later recognized as an industrial design icon. In 1960, the bottle shape itself received trademark status in the United States, extending legal protection beyond the original design patent period. The packaging became a major part of Coca-Cola advertising campaigns and global brand recognition across multiple generations of consumers. Why This Moment Matters The 1915 contour bottle patent demonstrated how industrial design could function as both packaging and brand protection. By securing legal recognition for the bottle’s shape rather than depending solely on logos or printed labels, Coca-Cola and the Root Glass Company helped establish product design itself as a powerful commercial identifier in modern consumer branding.