ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,419,389, issued on Sept. 23, was assigned to adidas AG (Herzogenaurach, Germany).
"Lacing lockdown system" was invented by Rohan Abel (Nuremberg, Germany) and Ninh An Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention relates to a lacing system for tightening a shoe upper, comprising: at least one strap, and a first and a second guiding element for coupling the strap to the shoe upper, wherein a first end of the strap is attached to a tongue portion of the shoe upper and a second end of the strap is configured to receive a portion of a shoelace, and wherein the first guiding element is arranged in a throa...