US Patent Issued to NIKE on Aug. 5 for "Article of footwear including lace-engaging slots and foot wrapping bands" (Oregon Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,376,648, issued on Aug. 5, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).

"Article of footwear including lace-engaging slots and foot wrapping bands" was invented by Aaron Cooper (Portland, Ore.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Footwear includes an exterior upper component having a lace-engaging region with medial and lateral side edges. A medial lace engaging slot is defined through the exterior upper component at the medial side edge, and a lateral lace engaging slot is defined through the exterior upper component at the lateral side edge. A medial side foot wrapping band is fixed to a plantar support component and extends inside the exteri...