ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 4 -- United States Patent no. 12,317,951, issued on June 3, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Sole structure for article of footwear" was invented by Yuchung K. Chen (Portland, Ore.), Dolores S. Thompson (Beaverton, Ore.) and Nikita A. Troufanov (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A sole structure for an article of footwear includes an interior cushioning arrangement extending from an anterior end to a posterior end. The sole structure also includes a forefoot cushioning element extending from the anterior end to a first end and including a first material having a first durometer. The sole structure further includes a heel cushioning element extend...