For example, Swiss inventor George de Mestral invented Velcro in 1941 after noticing the burrs of a burdock had small hooks that caught on his clothing during a hike. Yet it took him nearly 10 years to develop the invention, several more to get the patent (1955), and even longer to sell the product to some pioneering early adopters, including NASA and one or two sporting-equipment companies. So while Velcro was a brief moment of invention, the process of establishing it as part of the culture took much longer.