ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,532,939, issued on Jan. 27, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Article of footwear" was invented by Windra Fahmi (Beaverton, Ore.), Erin Gleason (Beaverton, Ore.), Jin Hong (Beaverton, Ore.), Liao Kuang-Nan (Portland, Ore.), Jaroslav J. Lupinek (Portland, Ore.), Stuart D. Pollock (Milwaukie, Ore.) and Chloe Scott (Beaverton, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An article of footwear includes an upper and a plate having a top surface facing the upper and a bottom surface formed on an opposite side than the top surface, the plate extending from a first end in a forefoot region to a second end in a heel region. A first cushioning...