How Virtual Fitting Rooms Work for Online Shopping
A method for creating a virtual dressing room where a user's photo is combined with images of clothing from different websites to see how they look together.
Original patent title: “Merged images viewed via a virtual storage closet”
A method for creating a virtual dressing room where a user's photo is combined with images of clothing from different websites to see how they look together. Granted to Jarbridge Inc in 2005 with 14 claims and 35 forward citations.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes a central host website that acts as a bridge between a shopper and multiple different online clothing retailers. When a user selects a personal structure—like a saved photograph of themselves—the host site fetches images of clothing from various external retail sites. It then creates a composite image by digitally overlaying the selected clothing onto the user's structure. The system also manages a virtual storage closet to keep track of these clothing images, allowing users to save items for future viewing or comparison.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover physical try-on technology or augmented reality mirrors that use real-time video feeds.
- Does not cover automated body measurements or AI-driven size recommendations.
- Does not cover the specific image processing algorithms used to blend the clothing onto the body.
- Does not cover local software applications that perform image editing without a web-linkable host-site architecture.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The innovation lies in the 'virtual closet' architecture that manages partial-data sets (like size and style codes) from third-party retailers, allowing a user to mix and match items from different stores within a single, unified interface.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Virtual dressing room features on fashion e-commerce sites
Online outfit builder and styling applications
Digital wardrobe management platforms
Why it matters
The bigger picture
Filed in 2000, this patent represents an early attempt to solve the 'fit and style' problem in e-commerce. By proposing a centralized host that pulls data from disparate retailers, it anticipated the rise of aggregator sites and virtual styling platforms that are common in modern fashion tech.
Filed
March 17, 2000
Granted
June 7, 2005
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Major fashion retailers and e-commerce platforms like Shopify or Amazon have developed sophisticated versions of virtual try-on and styling tools. Startups focusing on AI-powered personalization and digital fashion are the primary entities currently building on the concept of aggregating retail data for user-centric styling.
Market impact
This patent helped define the early vision for 'virtual shopping assistants' that bridge the gap between static product catalogs and personalized user experiences. It laid a conceptual foundation for the aggregator model in fashion retail, where the user experience is decoupled from the individual retailer's website.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes a central host website that acts as a bridge between a shopper and multiple different online clothing retailers. When a user selects a personal structure—like a saved photograph of themselves—the host site fetches images of clothing from various external retail sites. It then creates a composite image by digitally overlaying the selected clothing onto the user's structure. The system also manages a virtual storage closet to keep track of these clothing images, allowing users to save items for future viewing or comparison.
The clever bit
The innovation lies in the 'virtual closet' architecture that manages partial-data sets (like size and style codes) from third-party retailers, allowing a user to mix and match items from different stores within a single, unified interface.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover physical try-on technology or augmented reality mirrors that use real-time video feeds.
- Does not cover automated body measurements or AI-driven size recommendations.
- Does not cover the specific image processing algorithms used to blend the clothing onto the body.
- Does not cover local software applications that perform image editing without a web-linkable host-site architecture.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Strong
Citation count
31/40
Moderately cited
Claim breadth
9/20
Moderate scope
Recency
0/20
Older than 20 years
Assignee scale
20/20
Major company or institution
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$27K – $86K
Midpoint $54K · expired or expiring · industry ×1.6
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
14 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Giannini, R. (2005). How Virtual Fitting Rooms Work for Online Shopping (U.S. Patent No. 6,903,756). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/6903756/expos-window-management
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Virtual Fitting Rooms Work for Online Shopping cover?
A method for creating a virtual dressing room where a user's photo is combined with images of clothing from different websites to see how they look together.
Who owns patent US 6903756?
Jarbridge Inc owns this patent, granted in 2005.
When does this patent expire?
This patent has expired and is now in the public domain — anyone can use the invention freely.
What is patent US 6903756 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 35 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
Filed in 2000, this patent represents an early attempt to solve the 'fit and style' problem in e-commerce. By proposing a centralized host that pulls data from disparate retailers, it anticipated the rise of aggregator sites and virtual styling platforms that are common in modern fashion tech.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover physical try-on technology or augmented reality mirrors that use real-time video feeds.
Patent monitoring