ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,426,668, issued on Sept. 30, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Article of footwear" was invented by Kevin W. Hoffer (Portland, Ore.), Cassidy R. Levy (West Linn, Ore.) and Brian Linkfield (Beaverton, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An article of footwear includes a strobel having an interior surface and an exterior surface formed on an opposite side from the interior surface, the strobel defining a footbed and a peripheral wall extending transversely from the footbed to a terminal edge. The article of footwear additionally includes an upper attached to the terminal edge of the strobel along a peripheral seam to define an...