From “Patent-Pending” to Patented

After over two years of introducing keote as a “patent-pending” chic keychain that unfolds into a full-size tote bag, I’m more than thrilled to finally change my go-to intro to one simple word: patented.

In the final weeks of 2025, our patent application for keote was officially issued by the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office). It’s a milestone I’ve been thinking about since the winter of 2023, when I filed our provisional patent — long before I even had a first sample in hand.

If I’m being honest, when I first sketched keote, I wasn’t trying to “invent” anything. I was just trying to solve a problem I personally had: never remembering my extra bag, and being frustrated by the lack of chic, elevated compact totes on the market. That was it. The idea of creating a patented product wasn’t the driving force — especially in fashion and accessories, a space where most things have been iterated on for centuries.

It was actually my mom who suggested I look into patenting it.

I remember thinking, sure, I’ll look… but there’s no way this will go anywhere. I assumed something similar enough already existed that patenting would be impossible. I pretty much expected the process to shut me down quickly.

The first step was a prior art and patent search — essentially combing through patent databases and the broader market to see if anything conflicted with or overlapped keote’s design and function. Lo and behold, searches for keychain compact totes… came back essentially empty-handed.

That moment was equal parts exciting and unsettling. Either I was onto something — or I had created something weird enough that no one wanted it. (Side note: do not listen to that latter voice.)

That search officially kicked off what would become a two-plus-year patent journey.

The next step was filing a provisional patent, which is a more cost-effective way of telling the USPTO: I have this idea, and I want to hold my place while I figure out if it’s worth fully pursuing. It allows you to legally say “patent-pending” for one year — a meaningful thing when the full patent process is anything but cheap.

During that year, I finalized the product and launched keote. What followed honestly surprised me: viral TikToks, an influx of preorders, and consistent enthusiasm from people who got it. That traction gave me the confidence — and the funds — to move forward.

I found a local Minnesota patent attorney and set up a meeting to pitch… a keychain tote bag. Which felt mildly ridiculous, considering Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and life-saving medical devices. But they took me seriously, and together we pursued both a utility patent and a design patent.

Here’s the quick breakdown:

• A utility patent protects how an invention works. For keote, that’s the way the tote folds into the leather flap, how it secures, and how the key ring integrates for easy carry.
• A design patent protects how the product looks — guarding against replicas and dupes.

The process itself involved a lot of back-and-forth with a USPTO examiner, refining language, addressing overlaps, and strengthening the claims so the patent could stand up if challenged (a necessity).

The utility patent was the big one for me. And that’s the one that was officially issued in December 2025. (Our design patent is still making its way through the process.)

I’d be lying if I said this moment didn’t feel especially validating. I still remember posting TikToks early on, calling keote an “invention” and saying it was patent-pending — and seeing comments laughing, saying there was no way it would ever get patented.

And yet, here we are.

More than anything, I’m grateful — grateful that those of you who have ordered, loved, and used your keotes can now confidently say you own a truly one-of-a-kind accessory. One that solves a real problem (hello, hands always full) in a way that’s both functional and beautiful.

This milestone has also nudged me to start thinking about future provisional patents for products currently in the works… but more on that later. 😉

Thank you for reading, for being here, and for supporting keote along the way. And above all, thank you to God — who has carried this whole journey in ways I never could have planned. Glory to Him, always.

Rachael, keote founder

Browse the patented design itself [Shop the keote collection →]