Are Square Drivers New? A Patenting Perspective
Don’t believe the hype… Check out these 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. Figures from Frank's patents are reproduced below.
Additionally, USPN 6,012,989 issued January 11, 2000. The following figure is from the '989 patent.
More recently USPN D489,105 issued April 27, 2004 (seen below).
These patents show that the concept of a square driver was not first thought of by Callaway or Nike, a fact that I am sure they would both acknowledge (and in fact their patent attorneys have acknowledged it). However, both Callaway and Nike have filed patent applications related to square drivers, a topic that will be discussed in a future post.
Kudos to the early innovators.
David Dawsey – The Golfing Patent Lawyer
PS – a future post will address recent design patents, utility patents, and pending applications directed to square drivers.
Categories: General Legal, Woods, Golf Design Patents
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