ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,714,196, issued on Aug. 25, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Footwear heel spring device" was invented by Tiffany A Beers (Portland, Ore.), John T. Dimoff (Portland, Ore.), Wade Flanagan (Portland, Ore.), Austin Orand (Portland, Ore.) and George A. Xanthos (Beaverton, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A device configured to surround a portion of a foot-receiving cavity at a heel region of an article of footwear comprises a control bar having a center segment, a first side arm extending from the center segment, and a second side arm spaced from the first side arm and extending from the center segment. The control bar may in...