ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,426,685, issued on Sept. 30, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Footwear heel support device" was invented by Elizabeth A. Kilgore (Portland, Ore.), Austin Orand (Portland, Ore.) and Andrew A. Owings (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An article of footwear includes an upper defining a foot-receiving cavity with a heel region, and a heel support device extending around the rear of a heel region from a lateral side to a medial side. The heel support device may include a plurality of slats and a base, the plurality of slats providing a progressive gradient of lengths and/or widths, and/or one or more pegs extending ...