Patent Law

US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: "Irreconcilably Inconsistent Jury Verdicts" Results in Remand for a New Trial Regarding the Original ProV1 Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Posted on August 14, 2009
Judges make it to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) because they are legal scholars and excellent writers. Thus, I would be cheating you if I tried to chop up their Decision into sound bites. Please read and enjoy the actual Decision in PDF form HERE...

Acushnet's Appeal to CAFC Successful in ProV1 Golf Ball Patent Litigation with Callaway

Posted on August 14, 2009
Check out THIS news release from the Dow Jones Newswires. More to come once I have time to research this.David Dawsey  - The IP Golf Guy

Ahh, There's My Problem; My Huge Driver Does Not Look Ridiculous Enough

Posted on August 13, 2009
Today a patent application published that makes me wonder whether the inventor has ever actually played golf. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090203466 titled ?Golf Club Head? and describes the invention as:The present invention discloses a golf club head, particularly a club head structure for driving a golf ball, and the golf club head includes a club head body and a striking surface, and the striking surface is substantially in a hemispherical shape or a semicircular tubular shape, such that the golf ball also has a circular contact surface for producing a reaction force during a collision with each other to produce an explosive force at a ball striking point and drive the golf ball to a farther driving distance and enhance the practicability and value of the golf club head structure...

Cleveland Golf?s Mystery Shopper Reveals Alleged Counterfeiters and Results in IP Infringement Lawsuit

Posted on August 13, 2009
Cleveland Golf sure seems to do a good job monitoring online sales of their products to ensure they are real Cleveland clubs sold in an authorized manner. You may recall a previous post titled ?Cleveland Golf Cracks Down on Unauthorized Online Sales.? Yesterday Cleveland continued to demonstrate their market awareness and filed a lawsuit against the operators of the website ?CopyCatClubs? for allegedly selling a counterfeit Cleveland® HiBore® driver, Cleveland® CG14® Black Pearl wedge, Cleveland® CG10® wedge, Cleveland® CG12® wedge, and Cleveland® 588® wedge to one of Cleveland Golf?s ?mystery shoppers...

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Can You Identify This Fairway Wood? I Could Not

Posted on August 11, 2009
Today a design patent issued on a fairway wood that I did not recognize and I immediately thought that I had uncovered something great. Unfortunately, not so. Is your knowledge of fairway woods better than mine? Can you identify the model of this club (not just the manufacturer)? Click HERE for the answer...

The IP Golf Guy Discusses ?Competitive IP Intelligence? on the Small Business Advocate® Radio Program

Posted on August 10, 2009
I was honored to be a guest on the nationally syndicated Small Business Advocate® radio show this morning. Jim Blasingame and I discussed competitive intelligence and steps that small business owners can take to monitor intellectual property issues in their industry...

Acushnet Weighs in on Groove Designs

Posted on August 09, 2009
Recently I have posted about some interesting groove patent applications by Karsten Manufacturing (aka PING) and Bridgestone. Well, don?t count Acushnet out, as they had an interesting groove patent issue this week. The patent is USPN 7568983 titled ?Golf Club Head Groove Configuration...

Bridgestone?s Take on Grooves, and it is Similar to PING?s Take on Grooves

Posted on August 06, 2009
Back in January I authored a post titled ?Grooves of the Future?? in which an interesting patent application by Karsten Manufacturing (aka PING) was examined. Check it out if you aren?t familiar with it because it provides some context to the groove designs disclosed in this post...

Ever Struggle to Get the Second Strap of Your Carry Bag Over Your Shoulder (of course you do, who doesn?t)? Well an Ogio Golf Bag Invention may be the Solution

Posted on August 05, 2009
Familiar with that fish out of water feeling when trying to get your left arm through that second carry strap? (and how it typically occurs when a cute beer cart girl is driving past) Well, Ogio recently received a patent on a device that may eliminate the fish out of water feeling and the odd glances of passersby as it appears that you are practicing your swimming stroke or swinging at flies...

It Ain?t Pretty, but I Bet There is a Market for this Putter

Posted on August 04, 2009
There definitely seems to be a trend toward more ?senior friendly? golf products hitting the market, just see THIS prior post. Today an interesting putter design patent issued that may warrant consideration by all those golfers with aching backs. The patent is USPN D597615 titled ?Golf Putter...

PING?s New Golf Tee Designed to Minimize a Tee?s Effect on Flight Trajectory and Spin

Posted on July 31, 2009
Would you ever think one of the big golf club OEM?s would get into the golf tee market? Not me, but that is just what Karsten seems to be considering. Yesterday Karsten had an interesting patent application publish as US Pub. No. 20090181806 titled ?Golf Tee and Methods to Manufacture Golf Tees...

You Gotta Be Kidding Me! Check Out This Patent Application

Posted on July 30, 2009
Today a patent application published that made me scratch my head. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090191984 titled ?Tee Dispenser? and describes the invention as:The invention regards a method providing a tee dispenser (10) on a golf course, and the tee dispenser (10) itself...

Can You Identify These Irons?

Posted on July 28, 2009
Do you recognize the irons disclosed in design patent USPN D597,157 titled ?Iron Type Golf Club Head? that issued today? You can click here for the answer. I like the design so much that I bought a set. Dave Dawsey  - Watching Golf Iron PatentsPS ? click here to check out iron patent posts

Sun Mountain?s Golf Bag Hip Belt System

Posted on July 27, 2009
An interesting golf bag patent application recently published directed to Sun Mountain?s hip belt system. The application published as US Publication No. 20090179058 titled ?Hip Belt System,? which describes the invention as:A hip belt system (10) for a golf bag (14) is provided for transferring a portion of the weight of the bag (14) during carrying to the hips of the user by way of a hip belt member (12)...

Watch Out, Nike Has Some Interesting Designs Up Their Sleeve. Can You Imagine Tiger Playing One of These?

Posted on July 23, 2009
Just when you start to think that nothing will surprise you?. something always does. Today a Nike patent application caught me off guard with talk of adjustments to ?change the overall exterior shape.? Do what?The application published as US Pub. No. 20090186717 titled ?Golf Clubs and Golf Club Heads with Adjustable Center of Gravity and Moment of Inertia Characteristics,? and describes the invention as:Golf clubs, club heads, and club weighting systems may include: (a) a club head body member; and (b) one or more weight members movably engaged with the club head body member so as to move between a first position and a second position to change an overall exterior shape of the club head...

I Can?t Decide, Is This Swing Training Invention a Birdie or a Bogey?

Posted on July 20, 2009
An interesting swing training invention is disclosed in a patent application that published this week, but I can?t decide if this is a really good idea or just another toy to collect dust in the basement. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090181785 titled ?Golf Swing Training Apparatus? and describes the invention as:A golf swing training apparatus and method of using same that instructs a trainee in the two optimum golf swings, namely an inward swing and an outward swing...

British Open IP and Lee Westwood's Roster of Sponsors

Posted on July 19, 2009
Click HERE to read a prior post about the trademark portfolio associated with the British Open. Enjoy. Also, while you are watching the tournament today try to count the number of sponsors listed on Lee Westwood's shirt and hat. More significantly, how many of them can you actually read? During yesterday's press conference I counted no less than 7 different companies, and about 5 that I could actually read...

Could One of These Designs be the Future of the ?#1 Ball in Golf??

Posted on July 17, 2009
This has been a good week for interesting golf ball IP. Just yesterday an Acushnet patent application was published as US Publication No. 20090181805 titled ?Golf Ball Surface Patterns Comprising Variable Width/Depth Multiple Channels,? and it will blow your mind...

The Perfect Putter Invention for Golfers that have Bad Backs

Posted on July 15, 2009
Ever heard of the Nickel Putter company? Well this week they were granted a patent on a pretty slick combination putter and ball marker. The patent is USPN 7559848 titled ?Golf Club? and describes the invention as:A golf club has a device for the alternate picking up and simultaneous placing down of a marker on the green or respectively the placing down of a golf ball through the intermediary of a mechanical pivotal mechanism, wherein both the picking up of the ball and the simultaneous placing of the marker as well as the placing of the ball and the picking up of the marker from the green is effected by the player whilst in a substantially standing position...

Bridgestone?s Latest Golf Ball Patent, I Bet You Have Never Seen a Dimple Like This

Posted on July 14, 2009
Golf technology, and the associated research and development, never cease to amaze me. Today Bridgestone had a golf ball patent issue on a dimple pattern designed specifically to maximize distance under low spin conditions. The Bridgestone patent issued as USPN 7559857 titled ?Golf Ball,? which describes the invention as:An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having an improved aesthetic appearance and enhanced flying performance...

How Is a High Spin Wedge Designed Without Concern for the Grooves?

Posted on July 12, 2009
Well, I have no idea?. but I will tell you how Japanese club maker K.K. Endo Seisakusho says they can do it; namely, by going against conventional thinking regarding the location of a club head's center of gravity (CG).Would you ever think that raising the center of gravity of a wedge head would result in more spin? Well, a recently published patent application indicates that increasing the CG height of the wedge above the center of the ball can increase the resulting spin on the ball...

Is Your Wedge Lacking the Appropriate Traces?

Posted on July 09, 2009
What?s a trace you ask? Take a look at these figures from a Bridgestone patent application that published today and it will become clear. Starting to see a trend? There is a lot of real estate between those grooves to capitalize on. Recall my post titled ?Does Your Club Face Need Some Engineered Texturing? Taylor Made Thinks So!? The Bridgestone patent application published today as US Pub...

An Adjustable Tension Putter Face

Posted on July 07, 2009
Recently a patent application published disclosing an interesting adjustable putter face. The application originates from Korea, so it is not the easiest to read but the drawings help fill the holes. The application published as US Publication No. 20090170628 titled ?Head for Golf Putter? and describes the invention as:A head for a putter of golf club provides more effective result by improving top spin of golf ball rolling into a hole cup by a putting (striking) on a putting green and thus increasing a straightness that a direction of golf ball and a distance do not change even in a mistaken putting...

Would These Shoes Have Saved Tiger?s Knee?

Posted on July 06, 2009
There aren?t too many interesting golf shoe inventions, but this is one. Check out the golf shoe design disclosed in a patent application that recently published as 20090165336 titled ?Magnetic Swivel Sports Shoes.? Wow, think those spikes may do a little damage to the greens? Substitute regular golf cleats and they may have something...

PING?s Latest Vibration Dampening Iron Design

Posted on July 03, 2009
Vibration dampening of golf irons has been a popular subject in golf club patents for the past decade. Recently Karsten Manufacturing, maker of PING brand clubs, had a patent application publish disclosing a club head design that they have been working on to reduce club head vibration...

Every Superintendent?s Worst Nightmare, Metal Golf Tees

Posted on July 02, 2009
I don?t know what to think about this recently published patent application. It there really a need for metal golf tees? The patent application published today as US Pub. No. 20090170638 titled ?Golf Tee and Method for Making Same? and describes the invention as:An exemplary golf tee (100) includes a substrate (100a) and a coating film (100b)...

What Could Heavy Putter Have In Store for Golfers? It?s Not a Putter!

Posted on July 01, 2009
Virtually all serious golfers are familiar with the putters from Heavy Putter. Heck, it seems that lately it is hard to avoid hearing about Heavy Putters, due in part to John Daly?s use of their products. Well, how does Heavy Putter plan to capitalize on their recent spike in popularity? Well, on Friday they filed a trademark application indicating their intent to use the trademark Heavy Wedge™ on ?golf clubs?; and it doesn?t take a genius to speculate that those ?golf clubs? might just be a new line of wedges! The trademark application is US Serial No...

Callaway is Still Working on the ?C-Shaped Golf Club Head?! I am Starting to Think that it has a Shot of Actually Making it into Production

Posted on June 26, 2009
Regulars of the Golf-Patents.com blog may recall a post titled ?Is This Callaway Driver Radical Enough for You??, as well as the follow-up post titled ?Callaway Received a Patent on the ?C-Shaped Golf Club Head?; Will This Club Actually Make it to the Market??...

An Update: Could It Be PING?s New G15 or i15?

Posted on June 25, 2009
Last week I reported on some possible designs of the next PING driver. Well, this week another design patent issued that may give us an even better idea of what the next generation of PING drivers may look like. The patent that issued this week is USPN D594919 titled ?Golf Club Head...

A Training Aid for All the Followers of the ?Stack and Tilt? Methodology

Posted on June 24, 2009
I have to admit that I purposely avoid reading all the hype regarding ?stack and tilt;? after all, my game has bigger issues (like the inability to hit a decent wedge shot). However, I do know that some golfers swear by ?stack and tilt? and say that it has changed their games...

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