CARLSBAD -- Staying balanced on one socked foot can be tough.

It seems obvious, but Joe Patterson received a patent and built a business on it.

Whether on one foot or two, someone doing yoga or Pilates stays in much better control if her toes can splay and if the undersurface of her feet or socks is grippy. So Patterson designed socks that separate the toes and have small rubber dots on the bottoms.

His ToeSox weren't the first with separate toes -- Japanese have worn split-toe socks with wooden thong sandals for hundreds of years, for example -- nor his the first with sticky undersides. But he won a patent for the combination of the two.

"The socks just stick to your foot, hug your foot like a second skin," Patterson said.

Patterson said he hit upon the idea during a yoga class in early 2003, when his instructor saw several other students slipping around and ordered them to take off their socks. Some studios allow students to go barefoot, but others deem that practice unsanitary, he said.

One studio in Orange County instituted a no-bare-feet policy shortly before it began stocking ToeSox, he said: A student had developed a fungus on her face, presumably either directly or indirectly from another student's foot.

The company, ToeSox Inc., makes the bulk of its sales to a total of 1,100 yoga, Pilates and martial arts studios, which then resell to their students, Patterson said. The company's Web site, www.toesox.com, offers the socks for $15 a pair.

His biggest single customer is a major national retailer. ToeSox Inc. has the socks made according to the store's specifications, and they're sold under the store's own brand, Patterson said. The retailer had developed its own toe sock but began ordering from Patterson after he got the patent, he said.

Patterson said ToeSox Inc. has sold several hundred thousand pairs since its launch in September 2004.

The company itself is small, with just Patterson and three employees at its headquarters on Camino Vida Roble: Patterson said he and his wife design the socks, with two other employees handling administration and sales.

But the operation is a much larger creature of the global economy. Patterson said he selected an organic grower in Turkey to provide the cotton. The socks themselves are made at two factories near Shanghai, China.

The socks were initially made in South Korea using standard non-organic cotton, but he converted to organic to provide a softer feel, he said.

The standard design comes in seven colors. The company also sells a half-toe model. A third model, without rubber dots, is designed for wear with shoes or sandals.

Call staff writer Chris Bagley at 760-740-5444. Read his blogs at bizblogs.nctimes.com.

RELATED STORIES:

APPAREL: Chef Works expands in threadbare economy

JOBS: TaylorMade cutting 170 jobs in wake of acquisition