ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,329,237, issued on June 17, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).

"Composite structures including a bonding layer and methods of making the composite structure" was invented by Paul Archer (Beaverton, Ore.), Jennifer Bee (Portland, Ore.) and Jeffrey E. Darland (Tigard, Ore.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Aspects of the present disclosure provide for composite structures including a bonding layer that adheres a substrate (e.g., including a polymeric composition such as rubber) to a material (e.g., including a polymer such as polyurethane). The adhesion of the substrate to the material through the bonding layer can include chemical ...