Here comes a week made in heaven for putter enthusiasts. OK, that may be a stretch, but I am committing to a week of posts directed to unconventional putters. Yes, many will be entertaining, yet ridiculous, putters that never had a chance at making to the market, but there may be some containing interesting features that should have made it to the market. Kicking off the Golf-Patents blog’s “Week of Wild Putter Designs” (that’s WWPD for all the golf “branding” experts that have to create an acronym for everything) is USPN 4846477 titled “Golf Putter.” Check out this beauty!..... I am willing to bet that a few hours of practice with this putter would improve my game.<< MORE >>

Check out the beauty of a club found in USPN 5792002 titled “Golf Club.” Think it could help your game?.....<< MORE >>

If you read the Golf-Patents blog then you are probably familiar with Mizuno’s Fast Track adjustable weight positioning system. Today Mizuno was granted a patent on this unique weight channel system. The patent is USPN 7611424 titled “Golf Club Head and Golf Club” and describes the invention as.....<< MORE >>

Last week a patent application published that is directed to the PING’s Craz-D Optigraphic Alignment Aid (view HERE and HERE). I have never tried one of these putters but they look interesting, and with a fancy name like that there must be some cool science involved. Right?......<< MORE >>

Isn’t that a large part of club fitting? Well, watch out club fitters because The Yokohama Rubber Co. is looking to automate this process. This week an interesting patent application published as US Pub. No. 20090270204 titled “Method for Golf Club Selection, and Golf Club,” which describes the invention as..... I am not sure that a system exists that could process all the movement in my swing, and I know that I would not want to see it illustrated on a screen. Nonetheless, wouldn’t it be great to have an automated system that recommends the best club for your swing regardless of the manufacturer, salesperson incentives, or what brand of clubs the winner in last week’s tournament played? Ah, a golfer can dream.....<< MORE >>

I don’t know what I would do if a playing partner pulled this invention out and started lining up shots. Well, yes I do. First, I would laugh and ridicule them a bit, and then I would probably end up trying it and asking to borrow it. This interesting alignment tool is found in a patent that issued today as USPN 7607988 titled “Golf Alignment and Targeting System.” The patent describes the invention as..... It’s just a matter of time before we see one of these used on tour.....<< MORE >>

The following contraption is one of the few golf exercise devices that actually looks helpful. Check it out..... Balanced on one foot on top of a rolling platform, come on, give me a challenge!..... << MORE >>

You may recall a prior post that introduced you to golf inventor Dr. Frank D. Werner? He is the author of a handful of books (example 1, example 2) on golf club engineering, and was one of the early supporters of square drivers (see THIS prior post). Based upon his bio, it appears Frank is one smart guy. Well, Frank was recently granted USPN 7597634 titled “Plastic Golf Club Head.” The patent explains..... I would love to hear the sound of a plastic driver..... << MORE >>

Ahh, finally a club that will correct for all your swing flaws. Check out this club’s design..... So, does this club have any chance of improving your game?....<< MORE >>

There is no doubt that adjustability is great for marketing hype, but I really don’t know anyone that uses it beyond the first few rounds played with their new adjustable toy. Taylor Made has led the adjustability movement with their movable weight technology (MWT) and flight control technology (FCT), and now they have another adjustability feature on the drawing board. The new technology is disclosed in a patent application that recently published as US Publication No. 20090253530 titled..... Interesting. So, what do you think the new acronym will be? Perhaps.....<< MORE >>

You may recall a prior post regarding a “golf ball lubricant” that looked a lot like a tube of ChapStick. The idea was to rub it on the club face to temporarily make the face of your club slippery so that it did not impart as much spin on the golf ball. Well, this week’s bizarre golf club patent details a similar idea developed in the late 1990’s in which the face is impregnated with a lubricant.... I have to admit, it would be interesting to see real test data illustrating whether either of these approaches significantly reduces spin. If it worked I suspect there would be a lot more members of the ChapStick Fan Club (yes, there really is a fan club.... check out the link).... << MORE >>

Back in August the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) found that "irreconcilably inconsistent jury verdicts" necessitated a new trial regarding the original ProV1 patent infringement lawsuit. See this prior post for a link to the CAFC’s rational. Well, the District Court has scheduled a new trial for the weeks of March 15, 22, and 29. Put it on the calendar and book your room!....<< MORE >>

The name alone sells this invention. I mean, whose game could benefit from a “high-precision golf club?” A patent application recently published as US Pub. No. 20090253528 titled “High-Precision Golf Club,” which explains this “high-precision” invention as.... Are you buying it?....<< MORE >>

Regular readers of the Golf-Patents blog know that Bridgestone has not taken the new groove regulations laying down. In the past I have posted on their face texturing designs and groove designs. Recently Bridgestone has bolstered their spin-related IP portfolio even further with the issuance of a patent directed to the orientation of face striations and had a patent application publish related to score lines..... I wonder what the USGA has to say about these inventions....<< MORE >>

This week’s bizarre club of the week is an oldie but goodie. Check out this awesome driver from 1927.... The drawings come from USPN 1,657,473 titled “Golf Club.” What was that inventor smoking?....<< MORE >>

Golfers see the term “grain flow forged” in Mizuno advertisements all the time, but I suspect only a small portion really understand the concept. Fortunately, a recently published Mizuno patent application educates us on the subject. The application published last week as US Pub. No. 20090247317 titled “Golf Club and Manufacturing Method Thereof,” which explains....<< MORE >>

Golf carts just don’t get any respect. Golfers largely ignore the beauty and the complex engineering that goes into the design of these wonderful machines. However, there is no doubt the manufacturers never forget about the sweat and tears, not to mention money, that go into designing a reliable golf cart. In fact, last week E-Z-GO sought to protect its investment and filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Club Car alleging that several of the Club Car products infringe E-Z-GO’s patent USPN 7,332,881 titled “AC Drive System for Electrically Operated Vehicle.”....<< MORE >>

Having trouble with your grip? If so, this little device may be the answer. Check it out.... Simple enough, right? The drawing comes from USPN 7,591,733 titled “Device for Reducing Effect of Dominant Hand on Golf Swing,” which explains.... Now, the rest of the story..... Looks simple enough (and inexpensive enough) that I suspect most golfers would give it a try....<< MORE >>

Cool golf glove inventions don’t come along every day. In fact, the last golf glove post on the Golf-Patents blog was over a year and a half ago. Well, that changes today with an Acushnet patent application that combines acupuncture and golf. The application published today as US Pub. No. 20090241238 titled “Golf Glove,” which describes the invention as.... That is one golf glove that I would love to try. I hope it makes it to the market....<< MORE >>

Check out this nice looking training device..... The figures come from the recently issued patent USPN 7,585,228 titled “Golf Swing Plane Training Device and Method,” which describes the invention as.... Pretty cool. I would like to have one of these in the basement (or office)....<< MORE >>

Probably not, but I sure don’t recognize this iron. Do you?.... I don’t know…. the shape and location of the product tag leads me to believe that this might be the new iron in the AP1/AP2 family. Definitely looks like an iron from the "players' club" category of irons.....<< MORE >>

An interesting Taylor Made patent application published this week that may give us a look at their next step in adjustability; which means a new acronym! The application published as US Pub. No. 20090239677 titled “Golf Club Shafts Having Selectable-Stiffness Tip Regions, and Golf Clubs Comprising Same” and describes the application as.... Is this an adjustability feature that you would pay a premium for?....<< MORE >>

A few months ago I authored a post titled “PING’s New Golf Tee Designed to Minimize a Tee’s Effect on Flight Trajectory and Spin” and expressed my surprise that a big golf club OEM would have any interest in the golf tee market. Well, apparently PING does enough testing to believe that the effect of a tee on golf ball flight is more significant than most golfers believe. Just yesterday Karsten had another golf tee related patent application publish as US Pub. No. 20090233734 titled “Set of Golf Tees.” The application describes the invention as..... They just need one guy on Tour utilizing different shaped tees for different shot shapes and then amateurs around the world will be doing it.....<< MORE >>

Check out this club..... What can you say about this club other than it would be a blast to try to hit!....<< MORE >>

Yes, hard to believe. I know. Check out these flip flops.... I’ll take mine in a size 10....<< MORE >>

This week a fascinating golf club shaft patent application published disclosing a smart shaft aimed at reducing shaft vibrations. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090233729 titled “Vibration Reducing Golf Club” and describes the invention as.... Interesting concept but, as I have said before, aside from the occasional shank, I just do not notice these undesirable vibrations that so many inventions seek to minimize. It seems like this shaft may be difficult to manufacture so that the shaft is similar in size and weight to conventional shafts, but it sure would be cool to see one in action.....<< MORE >>

I would love to give this practice putter a try because it looks virtually impossible. Check it out..... << MORE >>

Perhaps I jumped the gun a bit with my prior post titled “Would These Shoes Have Saved Tiger’s Knee,” because recently a patent was granted on a pair of golf shoes that would have surely prevented the injury! Maybe? OK, I doubt it!..... Some day I am going to run these ideas by Dr. Lanny over at Golfer’sKnee to see if these type of shoes are more likely reduce injury or cause injury.....<< MORE >>

In the past the Golf-Patents blog has published many posts regarding the potential look of future golf balls (here, here, here, here, and here). It has gotten to the point that I am starting to believe that the day will come when I will tell young golfers that I remember playing golf with a ball that had dimples (round dimples at that) and they won’t believe me. Supporting this belief is a patent that was granted to Acushnet today titled “Golf Ball Surface Textures.” The patent (USPN 7,588,505) describes the invention as..... So, how long do you think it will be before traditional circular dimples are obsolete? << MORE >>

Check out this club..... The drawings come from USPN 4,850,593 titled “Reduced Drag Club Head for a Wood Type Golf Club,” which provides a nice explanation for the unusual design....<< MORE >>

Having your own golf cart would be nice, but having one with a lift would be awesome! Check out this sweet looking golf cart..... OK, sweet may be a stretch. The drawing comes from USPN 7,581,740 titled “Golf Cart Front Suspension Lift System.” The patent describes the invention as.... Nice invention, but is there a market for golf cart lift kits?<< MORE >>

Over the years I have only covered a couple of Scotty Cameron’s inventions; check out the posts titled “Am I the Only Golfer That Thinks Scented Golf Grips are Unnecessary?” and “Would You Play A Scented Golf Grip That Feels Like Jelly? Scotty Cameron Thinks So.” Well, recently Scotty had a patent application publish that isn’t directed to a putter or grip design, but rather to a system for analyzing a putting stroke. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090221379 titled “Method and Apparatus for Determining Golf Ball Performance Versus Golf Club Configuration in Accordance with a Golfer’s Individual Swing Characteristics” and includes the following description and drawings..... It seems that the novelty of the system is that it includes a force plate that the golfer stands on during the stroke so that weight distribution information may be included in the swing analysis.....<< MORE >>

The following golf ball design was granted a patent last week and I bet it is going to gobble up market share!......<< MORE >>

A fascinating golf club patent issued last week. The club appears to be part golf club, part weapon. Ahh, perhaps the origin of the hybrid. The patent is USPN D599422 titled “Golf Club.” Check out this design..... Pretty crazy, but it would be fun to try to hit a ball with it.....<< MORE >>

Check out the driver design found in USPN D599421 simply titled “Golf Club Head,” which issued last week..... Could it find a home in your bag? I bet that if it came with a TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway, (fill in the blank), name on it that a lot of people would give it a try, despite the nontraditional look.... << MORE >>

Acushnet had two interesting patent applications publish addressing another yet another degree of adjustability; namely, the ability to switch out a driver’s sole plate to change the club head’s characteristics. The applications published as US Pub. No. 20090221380 and 20090221381 titled “Golf Club Having Removable Sole Weight Using Custom and Interchangeable Panels” and describe the invention as.... Check out these designs....<< MORE >>

The intrigue of a good golf shoe cleat lawsuit reads like a fine mystery novel. Laughable? Not so, the latest battle FlatSpikes takes on SoftSpikes contains all sorts of interesting allegations! Many golfers would be surprised by the amount of litigation concerning patents on golf shoe spikes; just check out these prior posts (post 1, post 2, post 3). Check out the following interesting parts from the Complaint that was filed on Tuesday.... Yow, this one should be nasty. The entire golf cleat patent infringement Complaint may be reviewed HERE....<< MORE >>

I come across so many bizarre patents directed to golf clubs that I have decided to feature one such patent every week or two. The Golf-Patents blog is generally dedicated to current happenings in the world of golf intellectual property, but this new category allows me to cover some wonderfully interesting designs from the past. The crazy patent of the week is USPN 5224702 titled “Offset Hosel Golf Club.” Check out this design..... Think you could hit this club?.... << MORE >>

This week a putter patent caught my eye just from the title alone. The patent is USPN 7048643 and the title is “Do-Drop Golf Putter.” Where in the world did that name come from! Check out this design keeping in mind that the handle is free to rotate...... I don’t think we will be seeing this one on tour anytime soon.....<< MORE >>

Frankly, I had never even considered the shape of the inside of a golf club shaft until today. Naturally, the inside of a shaft must be round, right? Not true. This week an interesting patent application published that is directed specifically to non-circular bores of a golf shaft. The application published as USPN 20090215550 titled “Matrix Composite Golf Club Shaft and Mandrel” and describes the invention as....<< MORE >>

This week Acushnet had an interesting putter patent application publish. Check out this design.... The application published as US Pub. No. 20090215551 titled “Weight Adjusting Structure Of Golf Club Head” and describes the invention as.... I am torn and can’t decide whether it would be fun to play with or if it is a tad too gimmicky.....<< MORE >>

Golf shaft technology is as interesting as any golf technology. In fact, I suspect the popularity of golf shaft technology will grow each week as major tournament broadcasts increase the number of slow motion SwingVision videos showing the gyrations of a shaft as a Tour player hacks their ball out of deep rough. This week the Nippon Shaft Company was granted an interesting golf shaft patent. The patent is USPN 7578750 titled “Golf Shaft, Golf Club, and Production Method for Golf Shaft” and explains..... Got that? Time to brush up on your metallurgy! It seems that golf shaft patenting is picking up.....<< MORE >>

I didn’t say “new” irons in the title because I always assume that when I can’t recognize irons it must be because they are a junior, or ladies, set. Plus, whenever I even suggest that something might be “new” someone will undoubtedly email me and point out that they are in fact not new, but rather that there have been at least 2 prototype sets bouncing around on tour for at least a couple of weeks! But heck, dealing with overzealous golfers is half the fun of having this blog. Well, even after some poking around I can’t identify this iron design as a junior, or ladies, set. Thus, I suppose it is possible that this is a first look at something new (but I have my doubts, and I am sure the readers will confirm these doubts). Nonetheless, check out this iron design..... It appears that the design has a face insert, which generally implies a multi-material, or premium, club. Do you recognize it?..... << MORE >>

Readers of the Golf-Patents blog know that I love inventions intended to reduce the number of lost golf balls… primarily because I can’t help asking myself the question… “how many golf balls would this device have to prevent me from losing just to pay for itself?” Not to mention, what would it do to a billion dollar industry that lives on the fact that golfers lose a lot of golf balls. Check out the following past posts on the subject to give you a flavor for what inventors have come up with in the past to eliminate lost golf balls.... Today a patent issued on the subject that actually seems a little more feasible than most of the prior attempts. The patent issued as USPN 7578603 titled “Acoustic Wave Induced Light Emitting Golf Ball” and describes the invention as..... How about the profile of that zero loft hybrid! ..... Interesting, but I would still need to see one work to believe it..... << MORE >>

There has been no shortage of interesting groove inventions lately. For instance, HERE is a post regarding Acushnet grooves, HERE is a post regarding Karsten Manufacturing (aka PING) grooves, and HERE is a post regarding Bridgestone grooves. This week another Karsten patent application published related to grooves. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090209361 titled “Golf Club Heads with Grooves and Methods of Manufacture.” The following figures illustrates the concept nicely....<< MORE >>

Regular readers of the Golf-Patents blog know that Cleveland Golf is not adverse to litigation; just check out my recent posts “Cleveland Golf’s Mystery Shopper Reveals Alleged Counterfeiters and Results in IP Infringement Lawsuit” and “Cleveland Golf Cracks Down on Unauthorized Online Sales.” This week they have decided to take on clone golf club maker King Sports, the alleged owners of turbopowerusa.net and kingsports.org. However, King Sports is also no stranger to litigation; check out my prior posts regarding battles with Nike (here and here) and Callaway (here and here). Here are some of the interesting allegations from the Cleveland v. King Sports lawsuit.....<< MORE >>

Check out the intimidating golf shoes disclosed in USPN D597733 titled “Golf Shoe.”.... I am fairly confident that I would get laughed off the tee box if I showed up in these.....<< MORE >>

The Nike Golf R&D department appears to have been busy lately. Just consider the shape shifting design that I posted about last month (click HERE to read). This week two more interesting Nike patent applications published disclosing some rather radical designs..... << MORE >>

Judges make it to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) because they are legal scholars and excellent writers. Thus, I would be cheating you if I tried to chop up their Decision into sound bites. Please read and enjoy the actual Decision in PDF form HERE..... Well, a new trial would be a nice economic stimulus package for everyone except the shareholders of Callaway and Fortune Brands! Perhaps I can go cover the new trial live for The Golf Channel; nah, I have a face for the radio.....<< MORE >>

Check out THIS news release from the Dow Jones Newswires. More to come once I have time to research this..... << MORE >>