ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,250,988, issued on March 18, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Sole structure for article of footwear" was invented by Leo S. Chang (Portland, Ore.) and Fabricio Da Costa Pereira Machado (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A sole structure for an article of footwear includes an upper cushion extending from a first end to a second end, a lower cushion having a first segment attached to the upper cushion adjacent to the first end and including a tray extending towards the second end of the upper cushion, and at least one bladder disposed between the tray of the lower cushion and the upper cushion."
The patent was f...