ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,256,800, issued on March 25, was assigned to adidas AG (Herzogenaurach, Germany).
"Sole board" was invented by Aric Armon (Portland, Ore.), Jeremy Determan (Beaverton, Ore.), Frances Huang (Portland, Ore.), Derek Luther (Portland, Ore.), Nick Martushev (Portland, Ore.) and Kevin Murphy (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A sole board for an article of footwear includes a plate that has a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region. The sole board includes a channel disposed in a top surface of the plate in the forefoot region. The channel extends from a lateral edge of the plate to a medial edge of the plate. A chara...