THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Entrepreneur and mom Allison Brockman built a business from her dining room table.
"I thought there was a hole in the market for women and girls fan gear," said Brockman.
She designed dresses using authentic jerseys and added skirts for a one-of-a-kind, unique look.
"We felt confident we could move forward in an original way," said Brockman.
She applied for a patent. Once it went pending, "Fan Dress" was born.
"We wore them to the Astros game the next day and we were stopped left and right, people asking us 'where'd you get that dress, where'd you get that dress?'," said Brockman. "Next thing you know I'm at the World Series game watching Jose Altuve's girls running around in my dresses."
The business started to boom.
"Nap time for my son I'd break out the sewing machine and get to work," said Brockman.
She tried to partner with Outer Stuff, a major apparel manufacturer based in New York.
"I thought this was my big moment," said Brockman.
They'd actually ordered a few of her dresses, but the meeting didn't go well.
"I asked him why did you order these dresses, what did you do with them," said Brockman. "He told me 'we hung them in our inspiration room to come out with something similar.'"
Fast forward to Easter weekend, she saw her dress design on the shelf.
"I was pretty shocked to see what I saw, it was more than similar," said Brockman. "They were constructed the same way I construct my dresses. Down to the hem. That's my design. I feel like they took that away from me."
She took to social media and since then her post has gone viral.
"This is a very common occurrence sadly," said attorney Katherine Treistman.
Treistman is a Senior Partner at Arnold and Porter practicing intellectual property law. She says Brockman does have a legal recourse.
"The idea is protected by way of a patent pending," said Treistman.
The dress Brockman saw for sale was manufactured by Outer Stuff, the very company she met with last year. KHOU 11 News has reached out to Outer Stuff half a dozen times by phone and email to get a statement. As of the time of this publication, we are still awaiting a response.
"It's not okay to take someone's idea like that and replicate it and then leave them out of the equation," said Brockman.
According to Brockman, her attorney is evaluating the proper next legal steps to take to protect her rights.