Patent ID: 6890102

Claim:
A gift bag comprising: substantially parallel front and rear panels, each having a top edge, a bottom edge opposite the top edge, and two lateral edges; and a pair of substantially parallel side panels, each having a top edge, a bottom edge opposite the top edge, two lateral edges, and a generally longitudinal fold having a first end adjacent to the top edge of the side wall and a second end spaced from the first end; wherein the lateral edges of the front and rear panels are joined to the lateral edges of the side panels, and a bottom panel having two pairs of substantially parallel lateral edges, wherein the lateral edges of the bottom panel are joined to the bottom edges of the front, rear, and side panels to form a container having an interior portion defined by the front, rear, and side panels and the bottom panel, said container further having an opening width defined as the distance between the top edges of the front and rear panels; and wherein the gift bag has an expanded width and a collapsed width, where the width of the gift bag opening is smaller when the top edge of each side panel is at its collapsed width and more creased along the longitudinal fold than when each side panel is at its expanded width; wherein the front, rear, and side panels of the gift bag possess a degree of stiffness that is sufficient to provide a free-standing, upright gift bag; wherein the entire outwardly facing surface of said gift bag is completely formed from a napped filamentary material, said napped filamentary material comprising at least a paper layer and a napped filamentary textile layer adhered to said paper layer to form a single sheet of napped filamentary material; and wherein the top edges of the gift bag have a double thickness of said napped filamentary material such that the napped filamentary surface extends over the top edges of the gift bag and onto a portion of the inner surface of the gift bag.