Year: 2012

Pull out this golf invention at the family dinner and you are sure to make an impression, especially after you ruin a few bottles of wine. The invention in question was issued a patent this month under the title “Method and a Device for Forcibly Expelling a Cork from a Bottle of Champagne or the Like.” So what does this have to do with golf? Well, check out these drawings and think about how confident you are in your golf swing….. It would be amazing to witness someone pull off this method of uncorking a bottle without breaking the neck. I bet Daly could do it…..

You wouldn’t expect a patent application to mix golf and football but one published this week that combines the two for a perfect winter Sunday drinking game. The application published as US Pub. No. 20120010010 titled “Gaming Surface and Game Styled after American Football,” which describes the invention as…. Is it the next cornhole?

Ever seen this fairway wood?…. The drawings come from a recently issued design patent (USPN D652,095). Looks like a potential new member of the Diablo line….

There is not a lot of patent activity in the field of golf bags compared to every other item that a golfer touches. Not quite as surprising as the lack of protection directed to golf shaft technology, but still surprising. Fortunately this week we get a look at a golf bag invention that isn’t afraid of being a little unusual. The invention is found in a patent application that published today as US Pub. No. 20120012482 titled “Balanced, Separable, Weight-Distributed Golf Bag for Ease of Carrying.”…. Slap a Puma logo on it and young whippersnappers would be all over them…. Dave Dawsey – The Golf Bag Patent Attorney

Interesting question. In the past I have touched on the trademark wrangling of Cobra and Taylor Made in their quest to own white. The Cobra trademark application has since matured to registration on the Supplemental Register, see the registration here, while the Taylor Made trademark application remains pending. You can refresh your memory by reading the prior post here. Interestingly, just one week before Cobra filed their trademark application they filed a design patent application that happened to issue today as USPN D652464. While the Cobra trademark application seemed to be directed to “the color white as applied to the entirety of a golf club excepting the collar and face of the golf club head,” i.e. including the sole, their design patent is geared toward only a relatively generic pear shaped head along with the color of the crown in combination with the color of the shaft and the grip (white or black). White crown, white shaft, white grip = Cobra design patent, but also black crown, black shaft, black grip = Cobra design patent! Say it ain’t so…. So, I wonder how many custom club makers are potentially infringing the design patent by assembling a club with a white grip, a custom white shaft, and a R11 head? Even further, ever seen a golf club with a black crown, black shaft, and black grip?…. David Dawsey – A Golf IP Protection Attorney

Just like having to sit by the wall-mounted phone and wait for a call, the days of having to actually look at your GPS unit, or shoot the pin with your laser rangefinder, may be coming to an end. This week an interesting patent application published directed to the use of virtual reality on the golf course…. I would not be surprised if this were commonplace in 10 years. Dave Dawsey – Keeping an Eye on Golf Technology Breakthroughs

As I have said before, if you are like me blog post titles that say “exclusive” or “secret” just make you roll your eyes and think “give me a break!” So, I am proud to say that after over 5 years of posts this is only the second time I have used such overdramatic language, but there is a reason. If you must know, the first time was for the post titled TaylorMade’s “Secret” Driver Patent Application (Now Patent).
As a regular reader of the Golf-Patents blog I am sure you know that US utility patent applications are published 18 months after they are filed, which is generally when we get to see behind the doors of the R&D departments. Of course an applicant can request that the USPTO publish an application early, or request that an application not be published at all. It is very rare in the world of golf IP to see either request.
This morning, as with every Tuesday morning, I was browsing through the new golf patents that issued for the week and came across a Callaway patent illustrating an invention that did not look familiar. Yes, I am getting older, but I should have remembered this design from when the application was published. Fortunately, I am not getting forgetful; I just happened upon one of the rare situations in which the applicant (Callaway) specifically requested that the patent application not be published. So, now you see why I used the overdramatic “secret” language in the title; because until today the design was secret…..
Why all the secrecy? They didn’t want a competitor to beat them to the punch of course! So, will we ever see a Callaway iron with a face that looks like the one above?…. Dave Dawsey – The Golf Patent Attorney

Golf-Patents previously covered a Nike golf ball that required cooking instructions to tailor the ball to a golfer’s game or weather conditions. I commented that it sounded like a pain in the neck. Well, perhaps this is the golf ball fitting of the future. This week DuPont, not a company you generally think about when shopping for golf balls, had a patent issue directed to a “phase transition golf ball and method of use.” The patent issued as USPN 8088026 and describes their golf ball invention as…. No offense but golf takes long enough; there is no way I am going to prepare for a round by cooking my balls for “hours or days.” Let’s hear them out…. Interesting concept but I am as dedicated golfer as they come and that sounds like a huge hassle to me! Just one hacker’s opinion…. David Dawsey – Keeping an Eye on Golf Ball Technology