ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 8 -- United States Patent no. 12,433,372, issued on Oct. 7, was assigned to U-Lace LLC (Rochester, N.Y.).
"Apparatus, system, and method for locking laces" was invented by Timothy J. Talley (Rochester, N.Y.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An apparatus, system, and method for locking laces are provided. The system includes a lace lock and a shoelace. The shoelace has toggles at respective first and second ends of the shoelace, which toggles are moveable from a first position to a second position. The lace lock has a unitary body that engages the toggles of the shoelaces in the second position to secure both ends of the shoelace in the unitary body in a fixed position betwe...