Patent Law

Would You Game a Plastic Driver? Author of Several Golf Club R&D Books Receives Interesting Plastic Club Head Patent

Posted on October 22, 2009
You may recall a prior post that introduced you to golf inventor Dr. Frank D. Werner? He is the author of a handful of books (example 1, example 2) on golf club engineering, and was one of the early supporters of square drivers (see THIS prior post). Based upon his bio, it appears Frank is one smart guy...

Bizarre Golf Club Patent of the Week

Posted on October 20, 2009
Ahh, finally a club that will correct for all your swing flaws. Check out this club?s design. The drawings come from USPN 6386987 titled ?Golf Club,? which describes the invention as:The present invention provides an improved golf club that incorporates a compensating member or pendulum into the head of the club...

The Next Set of Titleist Irons?

Posted on September 29, 2009
Probably not, but I sure don?t recognize this iron. Do you? I don?t know?. the shape and location of the product tag leads me to believe that this might be the new iron in the AP1/AP2 family. Definitely looks like an iron from the "players' club" category of irons...

What is the Next Step in Adjustability? Taylor Made is Considering Adjustable-Stiffness Shaft Tips

Posted on September 26, 2009
An interesting Taylor Made patent application published this week that may give us a look at their next step in adjustability; which means a new acronym! The application published as US Pub. No. 20090239677 titled ?Golf Club Shafts Having Selectable-Stiffness Tip Regions, and Golf Clubs Comprising Same? and describes the application as:The subject golf clubs have a shaft and clubhead...

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More Golf Tee Concepts from PING, This Time a "Set" of Golf Tees

Posted on September 25, 2009
A few months ago I authored a post titled ?PING?s New Golf Tee Designed to Minimize a Tee?s Effect on Flight Trajectory and Spin? and expressed my surprise that a big golf club OEM would have any interest in the golf tee market. Well, apparently PING does enough testing to believe that the effect of a tee on golf ball flight is more significant than most golfers believe...

Bizarre Golf Club Patent of the Week

Posted on September 23, 2009
Check out this club. The drawings come from USPN 5354055 titled ?Golf Club Head with Rearward Center of Gravity and Diagonal Orientation,? which describes the invention as:The subject invention relates to golf club heads of the "wood" and hollow "metalwood" types...

Sorry to Disappoint but Golf Flip Flops Have Been Patented

Posted on September 22, 2009
Yes, hard to believe. I know. Check out these flip flops. The drawing comes from USPN 7584553 titled ?Flip Flop Golf Sandal,? which describes the invention as:A flip flop sandal comprising a sole portion made from a flexible, resilient and moldable material...

How Much Would One of These Golf Shafts Cost?

Posted on September 19, 2009
This week a fascinating golf club shaft patent application published disclosing a smart shaft aimed at reducing shaft vibrations. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090233729 titled ?Vibration Reducing Golf Club? and describes the invention as:A vibration reducing golf club includes a club main structure and a plurality of piezoelectric materials...

There is No Doubt That This Practice Putter Will Reveal Your Putting Flaws

Posted on September 18, 2009
I would love to give this practice putter a try because it looks virtually impossible. Check it out. The drawing comes from the recently issued patent USPN 7578752 titled ?Putter Training Device.? The patent explains:This novel device relates to an improvement in golfing, and more particularly to training in and improving one's short game; i...

OK, These Are The Shoes That Would Have Saved Tiger?s Knee! Maybe?

Posted on September 17, 2009
Perhaps I jumped the gun a bit with my prior post titled ?Would These Shoes Have Saved Tiger?s Knee,? because recently a patent was granted on a pair of golf shoes that would have surely prevented the injury! Maybe? OK, I doubt it!The patent is USPN 7549239 titled ?Sports Shoe Having Movable Ground Engaging Elements? and discloses the following golf shoes...

Has the Golf Ball Dimple Reached the End of its Useful Life?

Posted on September 15, 2009
In the past the Golf-Patents blog has published many posts regarding the potential look of future golf balls (here, here, here, here, and here). It has gotten to the point that I am starting to believe that the day will come when I will tell young golfers that I remember playing golf with a ball that had dimples (round dimples at that) and they won?t believe me...

Bizarre Golf Club Patent of the Week

Posted on September 13, 2009
Check out this club. The drawings come from USPN 4,850,593 titled ?Reduced Drag Club Head for a Wood Type Golf Club,? which provides a nice explanation for the unusual design:The forgoing problems and shortcomings with prior art wood type golf club heads are resolved according to the instant invention which employs a sole trough whose root runs approximately parallel to the club face, is convex in the transverse (root line) direction and is concave in a direction perpendicular to the face of the club head...

Just What Every Golf Cart Needs, a Lift Kit

Posted on September 12, 2009
Having your own golf cart would be nice, but having one with a lift would be awesome! Check out this sweet looking golf cart. OK, sweet may be a stretch.The drawing comes from USPN 7,581,740 titled ?Golf Cart Front Suspension Lift System.? The patent describes the invention as:A front suspension lift system including a main frame having two sides, front and rear...

What?s Scotty Been Up To?

Posted on September 10, 2009
Over the years I have only covered a couple of Scotty Cameron?s inventions; check out the posts titled ?Am I the Only Golfer That Thinks Scented Golf Grips are Unnecessary??  and ?Would You Play A Scented Golf Grip That Feels Like Jelly? Scotty Cameron Thinks So...

Finally Some Real Competition in the Golf Ball Industry

Posted on September 09, 2009
The following golf ball design was granted a patent last week and I bet it is going to gobble up market share! OK, that may be a bit of a stretch but it is definitely an interesting design. I think that we have to assume that it is a practice ball. The ball is found in USPN D599,505 titled ?Indented Golf Ball...

Bizarre Golf Club Patent of the Week; Native American Tool or Golf Club?

Posted on September 08, 2009
A fascinating golf club patent issued last week. The club appears to be part golf club, part weapon. Ahh, perhaps the origin of the hybrid. The patent is USPN D599422 titled ?Golf Club.? Check out this design. Pretty crazy, but it would be fun to try to hit a ball with it...

Your Next Gamer?

Posted on September 07, 2009
Check out the driver design found in USPN D599421 simply titled ?Golf Club Head,? which issued last week. Could it find a home in your bag? I bet that if it came with a TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway, (fill in the blank), name on it that a lot of people would give it a try, despite the nontraditional look...

The Problem With Your Drives Is Your Lack of Soul (or Sole); Perhaps Acushnet?s Interchangeable Sole Driver Design Is The Solution

Posted on September 05, 2009
Acushnet had two interesting patent applications publish addressing another yet another degree of adjustability; namely, the ability to switch out a driver?s sole plate to change the club head?s characteristics. The applications published as US Pub. No...

A Battle of the Spikes; Yet Another Golf Shoe Spike Patent Infringement Battle

Posted on September 03, 2009
The intrigue of a good golf shoe cleat lawsuit reads like a fine mystery novel. Laughable? Not so, the latest battle FlatSpikes takes on SoftSpikes contains all sorts of interesting allegations! Many golfers would be surprised by the amount of litigation concerning patents on golf shoe spikes; just check out these prior posts (post 1, post 2, post 3)...

Bizarre Golf Club Patent of the Week

Posted on September 02, 2009
I come across so many bizarre patents directed to golf clubs that I have decided to feature one such patent every week or two. The Golf-Patents blog is generally dedicated to current happenings in the world of golf intellectual property, but this new category allows me to cover some wonderfully interesting designs from the past...

Putting Problems? Perhaps This ?Do-Drop? Putter is the Answer

Posted on September 01, 2009
This week a putter patent caught my eye just from the title alone. The patent is USPN 7048643 and the title is ?Do-Drop Golf Putter.? Where in the world did that name come from! Check out this design keeping in mind that the handle is free to rotate: The patent describes the invention as:A golf putter having a bent shaft and designed to be used with an individual facing the intended travel direction of the launched golf ball...

Do You Know the Shape of the Inside of Your Golf Shafts?

Posted on August 31, 2009
Frankly, I had never even considered the shape of the inside of a golf club shaft until today. Naturally, the inside of a shaft must be round, right? Not true. This week an interesting patent application published that is directed specifically to non-circular bores of a golf shaft...

Dial-In the Perfect Putter with Acushnet?s New Rotary Dial Putter; Innovative or Gimmicky?

Posted on August 29, 2009
This week Acushnet had an interesting putter patent application publish. Check out this design: The application published as US Pub. No. 20090215551 titled ?Weight Adjusting Structure Of Golf Club Head? and describes the invention as:A weight adjusting structure of a golf club head comprises a 360-degree rotatable rotary table installed in a body of a golf club head, wherein the rotary table is combined with an incomplete annular weight block at a peripheral portion on an arbitrary side thereof, so that the rotary table and the weight block form a rotary table assembly whose weight orientation can be adjusted...

Are Your Shafts Retaining Austenite? Poor Things

Posted on August 27, 2009
Golf shaft technology is as interesting as any golf technology. In fact, I suspect the popularity of golf shaft technology will grow each week as major tournament broadcasts increase the number of slow motion SwingVision videos showing the gyrations of a shaft as a Tour player hacks their ball out of deep rough...

I Can?t Identify These Irons, Can You?

Posted on August 26, 2009
I didn?t say ?new? irons in the title because I always assume that when I can?t recognize irons it must be because they are a junior, or ladies, set. Plus, whenever I even suggest that something might be ?new? someone will undoubtedly email me and point out that they are in fact not new, but rather that there have been at least 2 prototype sets bouncing around on tour for at least a couple of weeks! But heck, dealing with overzealous golfers is half the fun of having this blog...

Another Golf Ball Patent Hoping to Eliminate Lost Golf Balls

Posted on August 25, 2009
Readers of the Golf-Patents blog know that I love inventions intended to reduce the number of lost golf balls? primarily because I can?t help asking myself the question? ?how many golf balls would this device have to prevent me from losing just to pay for itself?? Not to mention, what would it do to a billion dollar industry that lives on the fact that golfers lose a lot of golf balls...

More PING Groove Ideas

Posted on August 22, 2009
There has been no shortage of interesting groove inventions lately. For instance, HERE is a post regarding Acushnet grooves, HERE is a post regarding Karsten Manufacturing (aka PING) grooves, and HERE is a post regarding Bridgestone grooves.This week another Karsten patent application published related to grooves...

Cleveland Golf Is No Stranger to Protecting Their Brand; Now They Go After Clone Maker King Sports

Posted on August 21, 2009
Regular readers of the Golf-Patents blog know that Cleveland Golf is not adverse to litigation; just check out my recent posts ?Cleveland Golf?s Mystery Shopper Reveals Alleged Counterfeiters and Results in IP Infringement Lawsuit? and ?Cleveland Golf Cracks Down on Unauthorized Online Sales...

Gamesmanship, Intimidation, Golf Shoes to Throw Your Competition Off Their Game

Posted on August 18, 2009
Check out the intimidating golf shoes disclosed in USPN D597733 titled ?Golf Shoe.? I am fairly confident that I would get laughed off the tee box if I showed up in these.David Dawsey   ? The Golf Shoe Invention LawyerPS ? click here to check out another interesting golf shoe invention 

Nike is Cranking Out New Driver Designs; Which of These Designs Would Find a Place in Your Bag

Posted on August 15, 2009
The Nike Golf R&D department appears to have been busy lately. Just consider the shape shifting design that I posted about last month (click HERE to read). This week two more interesting Nike patent applications published disclosing some rather radical designs...

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