ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,295,461, issued on May 13.
"Natural-cushioning, sock liner apparatus and method" was invented by Bret Rasmussen (Murray, Utah) and Cameron Braithwaite (Cottonwood Heights, Utah).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A sock liner (fitting above an insole of an article of footwear) includes a base layer between a thinner top layer, typically fabric contacting a sock in a shoe, and an intermediate layer below for shaping. The intermediate layer is a tailored series of projections, each extending from the medial side toward the lateral side. Together, these contain locally the individual regions of the "fat pad," extending along the underside of a f...