Vulcan Golf Sues Google

Over at the Technology and Marketing Law Blog there is an excellent post regarding a lawsuit filed by Vulcan Golf LLC against Google. Eric Goldman does a great job explaining the lawsuit, so I won’t attempt to summarize it myself… It looks like Vulcan Golf is not afraid of a fight!

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Has Patent Protection in the Golf Industry Gone Out of Control?

Patent Attorney: Of course not! Protect it all.
Golf Equipment Manufacturer: We spend $__ millions in R and D every year, we must protect our intellectual property or we would just be giving it to the competition. Plus, all of our competitors are trying to protect everything!
Golfer: I wish the equipment manufacturers would just save the legal fees and reduce the price of the products.
Who is correct? Well, at one point or another I could see myself taking all three positions. But… this week a design patent issued that made me look at …

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An Interesting Golf Grip Patent Application Publishes

Recently a very interesting grip patent application published as US Pub. No. 20070123365 titled “Golf Club Grip.” The application describes the invention as:… So what does that mean? Well, the figures do a good job of illustrating the concept (despite the fact that they look like they were sketched on a napkin). The invention is a grip with two distinct diameters with the lower grip section having a diameter larger than the upper grip section…

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A Post for the Motorcycle Riders

Ever want to strap your bag to your bike and cruise to the course? If so then this invention may be for you. A patent application published last week as US Pub. No. 20070138223 with the title “Golf Bag for Motorcycles.” The figures tell the story… Interesting invention, but will we see these as a Harley factory option?

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A Perimeter Weighted Golf Ball Patent Issues to Acushnet… And Why Average Golfers Should Not Be Playing the Same Balls as the Pros

Do you understand why average golfers should not play the same equipment as the pros? Probably, but I know that a lot of average golfers do not. How many times have you seen a 20+ handicapper playing “pro” or “tour” forged irons while hitting the most expensive balls they can find? An Acushnet (aka Titleist) patent issued this week that does a nice job of explaining why golfers should select balls based upon the golf balls spin characteristics… The Acushnet patent that issued this week is USPN 7232384 titled “Perimeter Weighted Golf Ball.” The patent describes the invention as…

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Did You Know That “Stimpmeter” is a Registered Trademark? Who Do You Think Owns It?

I would never have guessed that the word “Stimpmeter” is a registered trademark. The Stimpmeter registration describes the goods associated with the mark as an “apparatus for measuring the relative speed of a golf putting green.” So, who owns the trademark? Perhaps a long-time putter manufacturer such as PING (Karsten)… maybe a ball manufacturer such as Titleist… And the owner is…

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Oakmont’s Trademark Portfolio

As you may recall, a prior post during the Masters looked at the trademark portfolio of Augusta National. Let’s see how Oakmont stacks up. Actually it is not fair to blindly compare Oakmont’s trademark portfolio with Augusta’s trademark portfolio because Augusta owns the trademarks associated with the Masters, while the USGA owns the trademarks associated with the US Open (a future post). Oakmont has two federally registered trademarks. Check them out…

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USGA’s Trademark Portfolio Associated with the US Open

Think the USGA values the royalties associated with the US Open? Of course! The tournament and the all the associated branded products are a huge source of revenue. The USGA has federally registered 6 trademarks associated with the US Open for goods and services in 16 International Classes. Interestingly, the US Open mark is protected with respect to goods varying from boxer shorts to watches. Check out this list of the marks in the USGA trademark portfolio…

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The Future of Irons? Three Rounded Modules and an Oblong Island… What

It is not very often that I look at an iron design and it takes my breath away. I actually said “what the heck” when I saw the drawings from a patent application that published yesterday. The application published as US Pub. No. 20070135233 titled “Golf Iron Club.” The application describes the invention as:… An iron with three rounded modules and an oblong island… what? Check out these figures from the application…

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Have You Ever Wondered if Attaching a Laser to Your Cap Would Help Your Game?

Not me. Fortunately some golf inventors aren’t as closed minded as I am. This week an interesting training device invention became protected by USPN 7229361 titled “Laser Indicator for Golf.” The patent described the invention as: A laser indicator for golf enables a golfer to maintain a correct posture when he or she enjoys putting or driving a golf ball. The laser indicator includes a case having a window on a front surface, a clamp fixedly secured to the case so as to detachably attach …

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Who Actually Heats Their Golf Balls?

I have lived in Ohio, a fairly cold location, for most of my life and the thought of heating my golf balls has never crossed my mind. Yet, this week USPN 7230212 issued titled “Golf Ball Heater,” making it the second golf ball heater invention that I have come across just this year. The patent describes the invention as: A golf ball heating appliance for heating 4 or more golf balls to an average temperature of between 40 degrees C and 55 degrees …

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Another Great Golf Cart Design? Probably Not

It seems that there is a fascination with pedal powered golf carts. Recently a patent application published that takes the concept to a new level. The application published as US Pub. No. 20070123363 titled “Bicycle-Mounted Golf Club Carrying System, Combination With a Bicycle Having Extra-Wide Tires and Method of Use Thereof.” The application describes the invention as: A system for carrying golf clubs on the front end of a bicycle by dividing the clubs between two enclosures: one to the left of the bicycle’s front fork and one to the …

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Callaway Sues Acushnet Again… This Time for Infringement of 5 Golf Club Patents

On June 8, 2007 Callaway filed a golf club patent infringement lawsuit alleging that Acushnet has willfully infringed 5 Callaway patents. The complaint alleges that the King Cobra 454 Comp, King Cobra F Speed, King Cobra HS9 F Speed, King Cobra HS9 M Speed, King Cobra LD F Speed, Titleist 905R, Titleist 905S, and Titleist 905T clubs infringe one, or more, of the Callaway patents. The Callaway patents that are allegedly infringed include USPN … All five of the patents are titled “Golf Club Head Having a Striking Face with Improved Impact Efficiency.”…

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The Solution to Your Swing Problems? ImpactStik Patent Application Publishes

Are you familiar with the ImpactStik swing exerciser? I was not until the patent application published a few weeks ago. The patent application describes the invention as: Components of a golf exerciser are contained within a tube that can be swung in a simulated golf swing independently of a golf club. Within the tube is an extension spring connected to a weight so that centrifugal force developed during swinging the tube can move the weight toward a distal end of the tube. There, a …

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Bridgestone Has Been Busy; Last Week They Had 1 Patent Issue and 9 Applications Publish!

Do the major players in the golf industry value their intellectual property? You bet! Just take a look at Bridgestone Sports (who doesn’t own a large portion of the market in the US). Last week Bridgestone had one golf ball patent issue, one golf ball patent application publish, and eight golf club patent applications publish! That is a major investment in their US patent portfolio, which includes approximately 567 US patents that have issued in the past 20 years. It is hard to imagine a company would continue expanding its US patent portfolio at this pace if it was not a smart strategic business decision… The golf club head applications include designs directed to methods to mount weights internally in the club head, vibration damping viscoelastic bodies, and specific crown and sole construction features…

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Golf Club Manufacturers PAY ATTENTION… Nike Trademark Application for Yellow on Sole of Golf Club Will Be Published for Opposition on June 26th

On July 6, 2006 Nike filed US trademark application Serial Number 78919236. The description of the trademark is “The mark consists of the color yellow appearing on the sole of the golf club head opposite the clubface. The matter that is shown in broken lines is for placement purposes only and is not part of the mark.” The application contained the following figure:… On September 16, 2006 the trademark examining attorney refused the application stating:… Nike responded on March 19, 2007 with a 57 page response. The response is very well written and must have persuaded the trademark examining attorney, as the USPTO issued a Notice of Publication on June 6, 2007. The mark will be published for opposition on June 26, 2007…

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A First on the Golf-Patents Blog, A Patent Covering a Golf Cup

When you bend down to pick your ball up out of the hole do you ever wonder about the intellectual property associated with the cup design? I don’t… and I am a patent attorney and golf nut. This is why I was so intrigued to see USPN 7226361 issue this week. The ‘361 patent is titled “Golf Cup Sleeve” and is assigned to Par Aide Products (a major producer of golf course maintenance products). I have to admit… I spend a lot of time thinking about golf, yet I have never given the cup a single thought. The background of the invention explains the problems that the invention of the ‘361 patent tries to solve… In preparing a golf green, a hole is cored into the ground which receives the golf ball therein. Various cups have been inserted into the ground to preserve the shape of the hold and to hold a flag. One example of a cup inserted into the hole is a plastic cup. The plastic cup has several drawbacks…

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Why a Jury Awarded $2.2 Million to Callaway at Maxfli’s Expense & Why You Must be Careful in Your Comparative Advertising

Do you remember the Maxfli A10? This golf ball was launched in August of 2001 and quickly racked up over a dozen wins on the professional tours. There was even a contest called “A10 Tell Us Your Best Story” that invited consumers to submit their A10 stories for a chance to win an Orlando, Florida prize package. Although the ball experienced a great deal of success early in its life, an advertising campaign gone awry was one factor that eventually led to the ball’s extinction. Shortly after the A10’s entry into the market, Maxfli began touting their new product “The Longest Ball on Tour.”…At least one ball manufacturer took exception to the A10’s claim. Enter Callaway Golf Company… Even some of Maxfli’s own tests indicated that the A10 was not the longest ball on tour. Unfortunately for the A10, Maxfli’s marketing department continued promoting the ball as “The Longest Ball on Tour.” … The legal proceedings played out over the course of three years and on August 12, 2004, a jury awarded Callaway $2.2 million for the false advertising claim. The amount was subsequently reduced to $1.1 million after the court vacated damages for corrective advertising…

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Another Driver Design Patent… Recognize this Driver?

Several driver design patents have issued in the past few weeks (see prior posts one and two). This week another driver related design patent issued that should be immediately recognizable to every golfer. The patent is USPN D544,058 titled “Portion of a Golf Club Head.” Do you recognize the driver shown in the design patent drawing below? The ‘588 patent is directed to the scalloped regions in the sole of the club…

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Acushnet Granted Patent on Ball Designed for High Swing Speed Golfers… In Other Words, A Ball Aerodynamically Designed for the Pros

On Tuesday Acushnet was granted a fascinating patent for a ball that the patent describes as: A golf ball is provided that has improved aerodynamic efficiency, resulting in increased flight distance for golfers of all swing speeds, and more particularly for golfers possessing very high swing speeds, such as those who can launch the balls at an initial speed greater than 160 miles per hour and more particularly at initial ball speed of about 170 miles per hour or higher. The golf ball of the present invention combines lower … Basically, the design focuses on a dimple arrangement and dimple profile that improves aerodynamic efficiency at high ball speeds. The design combines the lower dimple counts (less than 370 dimples) of earlier golf balls with higher dimple coverage and multiple dimples sizes of more modern golf balls…

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A Bag Suited for Al Czervik (aka Rodney Dangerfield) of Caddyshack

I expected to see Al Czervik listed as an inventor on a patent that issued yesterday. For those of you that don’t know Al Czervik… he is the character played by Rodney Dangerfield in the classic 1980 movie Caddyshack. The patent that issued is USPN 7,225,951 titled “Portable Fluid Delivery System.” The patent describes the invention as: A dispenser is located within a golf bag and remotely controlled and coupled to a linear actuator, which extends the fluid dispenser outside of the golf bag upon actuation …

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Can You Identify This Golf Club Head? Test Your Knowledge of Iron Designs

The Golf-Patents blog has tested your knowledge of iron club head design several times in the past. Today, let’s see if you can identify another set of irons. A hint… this test may be easier for the low handicap golfer. The figure below comes from a US golf club iron head design patent that issued yesterday to a major producer of clubs. Can you identify the brand of irons?…

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Are You One of Those Golfers that Must Tee Your Ball Up Just Perfectly Every Time? You Know… The One That Drives Everyone Else in the Foursome Nuts. Perhaps This Golf Tee Invention Will Help

Are you “that guy?” You know, the one that gets to the tee box and tees up on the far right edge, takes a practice swing, decides that the ball is too low, raises the tee, then tries to tilt the tee slightly forward to gain that extra six inches on the drive, the ball falls off the tee, tees up again, takes another practice swing, and then decides that the tee box is not level on the right side and proceeds to repeat the process on the left side of the tee box. If you are the golfer that I just described then perhaps you (or the other three people in your group) should be excited about the issuance of USPN 7,223,184 titled “Golf Tee Setting Device and Method.” …

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Interesting Use of Design Patenting for Putter Surface Treatments – Congratulations Cleveland Golf

Last week USPN D543,599 titled “Top of Golf Putter” issued to Cleveland Golf related to the Never Compromise brand of putters. The patent illustrates a unique design patent strategy. Many people seem to be surprised that one goal of a design patent should be to obtain as broad of patent protection as possible. Often people mistakenly only think of the “breadth” of a patent with respect to utility patents. This is why you will often see several design patents directed to various aspects of a single club… Congratulations Cleveland Golf, great strategy! So, which design patent do you think is the most broad? USPN D543,599 or USPN D543,598?…

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A Potential New Product for Up and Coming Club Manufacturer?

Srixon Sports is quickly becoming a familiar name in the golf community (in large part due to the sponsorship of Jim Furyk and tons of commercials). I suspect that most “average” golfers don’t think of Srixon as a mainstream golf club manufacturer largely because Srixon only offers forged irons (not exactly a friend of the “game-improvement” segment of the market). Srixon did have an iron design patent issue this past week that may indicate an interest in expanding beyond the forged “tour” market. In fact, USPN D543,601 titled “Head for Golf Club” looks to incorporate adjustable weight ports (typically a “game-improvement” segment characteristic)….

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Can You Identify This Putter? Test Your Knowledge of Golf Putter Designs

Golf-Patents.com has repeatedly used putter design patents to test your knowledge of putter designs. Well here is another tough one… How good are you at identifying a particular brand of putter when all the brand identifiers are stripped off the club head? The figures below come from a US putter design patent that issued this week to a major producer of clubs. Can you identify the brand of putter?… PS – don’t feel bad if you couldn’t identify the putter manufacturer… heck I did not even know that the particular brand was owned by the golf company in question.

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