ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,465,109, issued on Nov. 11.
"Article of footwear" was invented by David Steer (St. Albert, Canada).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An article of footwear includes a sole structure and a heel assembly. The sole structure defines a forwardmost toe location of the article of footwear. The heel assembly defines a rearmost heel location of the article of footwear and includes a lower heel movable relative to the sole structure. One of the lower heel and upper heel defines a track and the other of the lower heel and the upper heel includes a protrusion slidably received in the track. The upper heel is movable relative to the lower heel between a...