IP Grab of the Week: Finally an Interesting Golf Club Shaft Patent Application

As you probably know from my prior regarding shaft technology, I am overwhelmed by the lack of patenting activity directed to golf club shaft technology. Well, finally an interesting shaft patent application published this week! Fujikura Rubber had a shaft patent application publish this week as US Publication No. 20070072697 titled “Golf Club Shaft.” The goal of the invention is to provide a golf club shaft superior in accuracy by minimizing displacement between thermosetting resin layers. The golf club shaft incorporates a torsional rigidity holding layer made of thermosetting resin including …

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Test Your Knowledge of Golf Driver Designs; Which Mfr’s Driver is Covered by this Design Patent?

As you may have noticed, “Test Your Knowledge” has become a recurring feature of Golf-Patents.com. In the past your knowledge of iron club head design and putter design has been tested. Now let’s see how good are you at identifying a particular brand of driver when all the manufacturer’s trademarks are stripped off the driver? The figure below comes from a US design patent that issued this week to a major producer of clubs. Can you identify the brand of driver? …

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New Golf CLUB Product Names; A Look at Golf CLUB Trademark Applications Filed in 2006

Readers of this blog may have realized that I love snooping around to see what golf club manufacturers are up to regarding intellectual property protection. In a prior post I discuss monitoring federal trademark applications to provide insight into what your competitors may be planning in terms of new products. Additionally, since recent posts have discussed golf ball and club patents that issued in 2006, as well as application that published in 2006, a look at the golf club giants’ 2006 trademark filings is in order. As expected, Callaway leads the pack, followed by Karsten, … check out my top 5 list of anticipated golf club product names …

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2006 Golf Ball Published Patent Applications of the BALL Giants… the rest of the story

A prior post addressed the number of golf ball related patents that issued in 2006 for the giants. Now, let’s look at the number of patent applications that published in 2006 for the same companies. Bridgestone leads the pack. This shows that Bridgestone and Callaway are hot on the heels of Acushnet. Bridgestone and Callaway obviously want to increase the size of their slice of the golf ball market pie. And what’s up with Nike?…

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Great Patenting Week for PING; 2 Interesting Golf Club Head Utility Patents

Karsten Manufacturing (makers of the PING brand) had a good week at the US Patent and Trademark Office. They had two unique golf club head utility patents issue. First, USPN titled “Golf Club Head with a Variably Dampened Face” issued directed to a club head in which the striking face is coupled to the body of the head through a rheological fluid. The head can then be “tuned” by changing the viscosity of the rheological fluid. The second Karsten patent that issued this week …

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Fascinating IP of the Week – Square Drivers Have Nothing on This Club

As you may recall from a prior post, I created the “Fascinating IP of the Week” category to bring those oddly unique golf patents and published applications to the masses. You know the type… the ones that make you wonder whether the inventor is crazy or a genius. On March 6th a design patent issued titled “Golf Club Head and a Golf Club Head Striking Face” that fits perfectly in this category. The figures below say it all… Could the “stop sign” club face be the next hot golf …

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US Club Designers Beware: Nelson Precision Casting is Positioning Itself to be the Only Club Manufacturer

Nelson Precision Casting’s patents and patent applications have been a frequent topic on this blog. Club manufacturers, regardless of physical location, better keep an eye on Nelson’s rapidly growing patent portfolio because they are positioning themselves to have a portfolio that blocks all other club manufacturers from using advanced manufacturing technologies. US club designers may feel that this is a topic that doesn’t touch them, but this could not be further from the truth and their opinion will undoubtedly change as soon as Nelson sues one of them for patent infringement related selling clubs manufactured using one of Nelson’s …

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IP Grab of the Week: Callaway’s Liquid Filled Golf Ball

The “IP Grab of the Week” award goes to Callaway for their golf ball patent application titled “Liquid-Filled Golf Ball With Preferential Internal Structures.” The application is absolutely fascinating and leaves one thinking “why didn’t I think of that?” The invention is described as: A golf ball having a spherical shell with a plurality of internal structures is disclosed herein. A fluid material is disposed within the spherical shell. The plurality of internal structures effect the spin decay of the golf ball. The application goes …

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Patent of the Week: Another Adjustable Weight Driver Patent, This Time To Dogleg Right Corp

As you may recall, a recent post discussed USPN 7,186,190 that issued to Taylor Made Golf regarding their “r” series weighting system. Well, just one week later USPN 7,189,169 “Customizable Center-of-Gravity Golf Club Head” issued to Dogleg Right Corporation directed to another weighting system. There is no doubt that number of patents directed to customizing the CG location of golf club heads will continue to grow at an alarming pace. Manufacturers that haven’t jumped on the moveable weight patenting bandwagon are going …

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Thinking of Using Your Favorite College Teams’ Colors in Your Next New Golf Product? Consider This

BrandWeek recently published a great article titled “Team Colors? Meet The Team Of Lawyers.” The article points our that college licensing departments are on the warpath and are successfully convincing courts that distinctive college colors, such as scarlet and grey, have developed secondary meaning. Everyone involved in product development (whether it be clubs, shafts, bags, or shoes) should read this short article and keep it in mind when selecting colors for golf products…

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USGA Proposed Rule Changes and Golf Club Groove Patents

Those in the golf industry know that the USGA recently announcement proposed golf equipment rule changes. One of the proposed changes has to do with regulations of the grooves in the face of a golf club striking surface. OK, that makes sense… we all know that the grooves have some impact on ball spin. The proposed rule change brings groove patenting to the forefront. Something I am sure that very few readers have ever considered. However, one thing is for sure – the major golf club designers have groove patenting on their minds. …

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Are Square Drivers New? A Patenting Perspective

Don’t believe the hype… Check out these square wood patents. One of the earliest square driver patents is disclosed in USPN D415,807, that issued October 26, 1999 to Frank Werner author of “How Golf Clubs Really Work and How to Optimize Their Design” and “Better Golf from New Research.” Frank also had a related utility patent issue on November 28, 2000 as USPN 6,152,833. Additionally, USPN 6,012,989 issued January 11, 2000. The following …

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Guidelines for Properly Using A Golf Trademark

Once obtained, trademark rights can last indefinitely. However, in order to protect and maintain these rights, a trademark owner must properly use their mark. It is important to remember that trademark rights are based on use. Thus, failure to use a mark properly or to prevent others from misusing or infringing a mark can result in an owner’s loss of trademark rights. The following guidelines for proper trademark use apply to advertising, correspondence, promotional material, press releases, displays, labels, packaging, signs, web sites, and any other media that uses, discusses, or describes the mark…

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Protecting Your Golf Logo: One Key to Branding Success

Logos play an important part in marketing and brand recognition in the golf industry. Take, for example, Nike’s “Swoosh,” Callaway’s “V,” or King Cobra’s “Snake Wearing a Crown.” These golf logos have become immediately recognizable as identifying the source of particular goods and services. Typically, companies will invest a lot of capital developing a flashy or eye-catching logo in order to build strong brand recognition. However, in building this brand recognition, companies, especially small businesses, may sometimes overlook the importance of protecting their logos through the trademark registration process…

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Choosing a Golf Product Name or Golf Course Name: A Couple of Important Trademark Considerations

If you are thinking about starting up a new golf business or introducing a new golf product or service to the market, one of the last things you may have considered is seeking trademark protection for the name of your business, product or service. However, the importance of selecting a trademark cannot be emphasized enough. Often times the trademark you choose will play a role in shaping the consumer’s first impression of the product or service offered by your company. Just consider my previous post regarding Golf Digest® magazine’s article on the best golf course logos (but keep in mind …

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Flavored Golf Tee Patent Application

On May 11, 2006 US patent application serial number 11/432190 titled “Flavored Golf Tee” was filed on behalf of inventors Brandon Willis and Jonathon David Abbott. Amazing! It will be interesting to see if a patent issues (if so, I have a great idea related to flavored pencils). As a side note, I do not know if this application is associated with the commercially available “patent pending” Tasty Golf Tees. Boy, golfers love the game!…

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Patent of the Week: Another Pat on the Back for Nelson Precision Casting; Patenting Club Head Manufacturing Methods

Nelson Precision Casting has received a lot of mentions on this blog for a company that I had not even heard of three months ago. Today Nelson continued their golf club head manufacturing patent streak with USPN 7,186,191 titled “Method of Making a Golf Club Head Having a Brazed Striking Plate.” The ‘191 patent is directed to a method of brazing the striking plate of a club head to the body of the club head. Most people do not appreciate the potential power wielded by method of manufacturing patents. For instance, sure the ‘191 patent doesn’t …

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Golf Club Shaft Patents Almost Nonexistent in 2006

The technology applied to golf club shafts is fascinating. Unique materials, innovative manufacturing processes. Therefore, one would expect to find lots of utility patents directed to shaft technology. This is not the case. My research indicates that only two utility patents issued in 2006 directed exclusively to shafts, with only a handful of others directed to sets of shafts, assembly methods, shaft extractors, and the like. I found this very surprising and suspect it is only a matter of time before one of the golf club / ball giants enters the shaft business. Check out the …

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Setting Up An Intellectual Property Protection System for Your Golf Company

I deal with a lot of businesses, including many small businesses and golf businesses. This gives me an opportunity to observe many amazing things. For instance, most companies have a written procedure regarding who may approve Purchase Order over a specific dollar amount. Further, almost all employees know who within any given organization is authorized to sign contracts. BUT, I estimate that over 50% of companies to not have a formal process regarding the creation, protection, and enforcement of intellectual property, whether it’s patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, customers lists, marketing strategies, etc… This is particularly true in companies that …

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The IP Golf Guy on the Radio

I was a guest on the Small Business Advocate radio show this morning. Jim Blasingame and I discussed the fact that IP protection is not just for the big businesses. In fact, IP protection is often what distinguishes successful small businesses from those that fail. You may listen to the interview here. …

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Published App of the Week: PING G5i Putter Follow-Up (Visual Alignment Aid)

Approximately one month ago I posted an article regarding Karsten’s patent application, US Pub. No. 2007/0026964, titled “Golf Club Head with Dual Durometer Face Insert,” and the association with the PING G5i putter. Well, this week another application published that is also directed to the PING G5i putter. Today the application published as US Pub. No. 20070049395, titled “Golf Putter Head With A Visual Alignment Aid And An Increased Moment Of Inertia.” Click here and select “Craz-E B cavity” from the pull-down menu to see a product photo that is strikingly …

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PING G5i Putter Again… This Time The Design Patents

OK, by now you must think that I am getting kick backs from PING. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth, as I do not even know anyone that works at Karsten. Plus, an Odyssey putter calls my bag home. The PING G5i putter just keeps coming up as a good example to illustrate various aspects of IP protection. In the past I have posted comments on a Karsten published application directed to the G5i face insert and a Karsten published application directed to the G5i alignment system and geometry, which it turns out …

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