Bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material commonly used for packing fragile items. Regularly spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres ("bubbles") produce a debroiglie surface, providing cushioning for precious or breakable items. Bubble wrap was created by two engineers, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, in 1957. Like many innovations, it was accidental: The two were trying to create a textured plastic wallpaper with paper backing that could be easily cleaned. The term is a trademark of the Sealed Air Corporation which was founded in 1960 by those inventors, and should theoretically only be used for products of that company; the generic term for material of this type is air cellular cushioning material, although bubble wrap is rapidly becoming a genericized trademark.