ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,745,824, issued on Sept. 29, was assigned to Skechers U.S.A. Inc. II (Manhattan Beach, Calif.).
"Footwear heel counter for easier foot entry or removal" was invented by John Maxwell Weeks (Los Angeles), Scott Kelley (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Frank Chuang (Cypress, Calif.), Pei-Chun Liao (Torrance, Calif.), Johnson Tja (Foshan City, China), Hui Xie (Dongguan City, China) and Kurt Stockbridge (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An article of footwear has an upper having an elastic material and a heel cup. The heel cup is constructed of a uniformly molded flexible polymer material and an aperture at a rear, and the ...