The process of hydroentanglement was invented as a means of producing an entanglement similar to that made by a needle loom, but using a lighter weight batt. A successful process was developed during the 1960s by Du Pont and was patented.
However, Du Pont decided in the mid-1970s to dedicate the patents to the public domain, which resulted in a rush of new development work in the major industrial countries, Japan, USA, France, Germany and Britain.