ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,250,993, issued on March 18, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Footwear heel spring device" was invented by Tiffany A. Beers (Portland, Ore.), John T. Dimoff (Portland, Ore.), Wade Flanagan (Portland, Ore.), Austin Orand (Portland, Ore.) and George A. Xanthos (Beaverton, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A device configured to surround a portion of a foot-receiving cavity at a heel region of an article of footwear comprises a control bar having a center segment, a first side arm extending from the center segment, and a second side arm spaced from the first side arm and extending from the center segment. The control bar may...