ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,349,768, issued on July 8, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Cleat structure for article of footwear" was invented by Matthew Chua (Hillsboro, Ore.), Oliver McLachlan (Beaverton, Ore.), Christian Alexander Steinbeck (Portland, Ore.) and Kristin Yetman (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A sole structure for an article of footwear includes a baseplate defining a ground-contacting surface of the sole structure and at least two ground-engaging members extending from the ground-contacting surface. The at least two ground-engaging members including a first portion and a second portion, the first portions of the ground-en...