ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,232,570, issued on Feb. 25, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Lockout feature for a control device" was invented by Tiffany A. Beers (Portland, Ore.) and Andrew A. Owings (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An article of footwear can include provisions for improving the operation and use of various systems associated with the article. A control device included in the article can be configured to allow manual control of a system by a user. A lockout feature that can disable manual control may be included. During periods of competitive activity, the manual controls may be disabled to allow a user wearing the article ...