In 1873, the government gave Strauss and Davis a patent for their invention. That meant no one else could legally copy it without their permission. They began producing what they called “copper-riveted waist overalls.”
In 1928, the Levi Strauss company registered the word “Levi’s” as a trademark for their product. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington has one of the oldest known pairs of Levi’s.