ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,550,965, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to W. L. Gore & Associates GmbH (Putzbrunn, Germany) and W. L. Gore & Associati S.r.l. (Verona, Italy).
"Waterproof and breathable footwear" was invented by Andrea Giupponi (Verona, Italy), Stane Nabernik (Putzbrunn, Germany) and Stefano Ranzato (Verona, Italy).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present application relates to a waterproof and water vapour permeable footwear article comprising an upper, an insole, a sole, and a waterproof bridging tape; wherein the upper comprises an outer material and a waterproof and water vapour permeable membrane, wherein at least the top end of the waterproof b...