ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,557,871, issued on Feb. 24, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Reinforced knit channel for an article of footwear" was invented by Chaokun Huangfu (Portland, Ore.) and Seth M. Wiberg (Beaverton, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Aspects herein are directed to a reinforced knit channel for an upper configured to receive a lace. The knit channel includes a first knit layer and a second knit layer that at least partially overlaps the first knit layer and is interlooped with the first knit layer at a first interlooped area and a second interlooped area. A channel region is present between the first and second interlooped areas. ...