The Golf Shaft Industry is Making a Move… The First Mention of True Temper
A prior post took a look at shaft related patents that issued in 2006. Needless to say it was a short post (very few shaft patents issued last year). This year is not shaping up to be much more active, but there has been some activity in the past month (see this post and this post).
Additionally, this week True Temper received its first patent in over 10 months. The True Temper patent that issued Tuesday is USPN 7255652 titled “Lightweight, Durable Golf Club Shafts.” The patent describes the invention as:
The present invention relates to an ultra lightweight golf club shaft having excellent strength which includes a tapered section having a particular tapered design from a larger diameter to a smaller diameter. The shafts can either have a tapered section with a substantially constant reduction in diameter or a low angle stepdown design. More importantly, as disclosed herein, the configuration of the shafts makes them extremely durable even though they are much lighter in weight than conventional shafts. The lightweight shafts allow for a faster club head speed and thus can produce longer distance shots as well as better feel.
OK, that is nice… but it doesn’t really tell you anything about the legal scope of the invention. A quick review of the claims reveals that the patent is directed to a 40-41” shaft that weighs 92-95 grams, and includes multiple constant diameter steps with a taper angle of 0.75-3 degrees.
Congratulations True Temper.