US Patent Issued to NIKE on May 27 for "Knitted component having at least one thermoplastic polymer element" (Oregon Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,312,718, issued on May 27, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).

"Knitted component having at least one thermoplastic polymer element" was invented by William C. McFarland II (Beaverton, Ore.) and Leah Resneck (Beaverton, Ore.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An upper may include a plurality of knit elements linked together by a molded thermoplastic polymer element comprising a thermoplastic polymer, each of the knit elements being discrete, where each of the knit elements comprises a border that is at least partially surrounded by the molded thermoplastic polymer element. Further, an article of footwear may include a plurality of k...