This week an interesting putter design patent issued as USPN D543252. Check out the following figure from the patent. Think this putter has enough consumer appeal to make it to market?<< MORE >>

As a follow-up to my post on Dave Pelz, I felt a look at David Leadbetter was in order. If you are not familiar with David Leadbetter, he holds the #2 position on Golf Digest’s list of the greatest American teachers. Anyone that has built such a successful golf instruction career must have invented some interesting golf products in his many years in the industry. Right? Also, given that the likes of Ernie Els, Michelle Wie, and Charles Howell III listen to him, I suspect that anything David has invented will actually improve a golfer’s ...<< MORE >>

I have been keeping my eye on the NanoDynamics hollow metal core golf balls for some time now. The NDMX line of golf balls seem to be getting a lot of press because they are so unique (as they should be for $60 / dozen). NanoDynamics indicates that the hollow metal core technology is covered by three of their patents. The primary goal of the invention appears to be improving the moment of inertia (MOI) of the ball by minimizing the density in the center of the ball, while maximizing the density away from the center and near the cover or outer edge of the ball...<< MORE >>

Have you seen the Callaway Golf commercial featuring Roger Cleveland? Roger explains how he formerly owned a golf company (read between the lines… Cleveland Golf) but now works for Callaway (… and something about innovative designs). I thought it would be fun to see if he is listed as an inventor on more patents assigned to Callaway Golf or Cleveland Golf. Given the disparity in size between the two companies it should be no surprise that he is listed as an inventor on eight times as many Callaway patents. In fact, he is listed as an inventor on more Callaway ...<< MORE >>

As with most industries, it is not uncommon to see a golf product engineer working for company X one year followed by company Y the next year. In fact, many employees view job jumping as the method to get the pay raise that they deserve. Undoubtedly, these engineers know a lot of confidential information about company X, particularly information regarding products under development and other research and development programs. While company Y may be extremely excited about the opportunity to have an experienced industry insider join their team, they must keep in mind that with experience comes baggage, and precautions ... Just consider the trade secret lawsuit that Nike is involved in... Do you think Nike would have made the hire if they had known they would find themselves right in the middle of a trade secret lawsuit?...<< MORE >>

Golf coach Hank Haney has filed for trademark protection of his name. The trademark application seeks protection of the mark associated with the following products: ... list ... Smart move Hank! (although I would have filed it for free... in exchange for a few swing pointers). There is a point in every moderately famous person’s life that they must consider protecting the use of their name as a trademark for certain products; just consider my prior post regarding golfers and their trademarks... << MORE >>

In the past your knowledge of iron club head design, putter design, and driver design has been tested. This post should make you feel smart... it is a really easy test of your driver knowledge. The figures below come from a driver design patent that issued this week to a major producer of clubs. Can you identify this famous driver?...<< MORE >>

Yesterday a few 2007 trademark applications of Callaway Golf were reviewed. Today let’s look at what a few of Callaway’s competitors have in mind for new product offerings based upon their trademark application filings so far in 2007. It looks like everyone is looking for a catchy name for their hybrids. As I mentioned yesterday, Callaway has filed a trademark application for FT i-brid. Not to be outdone, Nike has filed a trademark application for a Midbrid trademark. Karsten has filed a trademark application seeking protection of the ...<< MORE >>

It probably goes without saying that anyone who has followed the game of golf over the last several years has heard the name Martha Burk. In 2002, Burk, the former chairwoman of the National Council of Women’s Organization (NCWO), led a campaign to open the gates of the Augusta National Golf Club to women members. Although the efforts of Burk and the NCWO did not succeed in establishing a single woman member at Augusta, their work has since developed into the “Women on Wall Street” project. This initiative targeted many of the nation’s largest financial institutions whose top executives were members at Augusta, and ...<< MORE >>

One of my first posts on the Golf-Patents blog discussed using trademark filings as a source of competitive intelligence. Well, an update (or some updates) are in order. Let’s look at a few of Callaway’s trademark filings so far in 2007. The results show that Callaway has some pretty creative branding people and they plan to ride the wave of the “square” club head popularity as long as they can. For instance, why would anyone play regular old “fairway woods” when they could play Callaway’s SQUAREWAY WOODS. Or perhaps the product line will be ...<< MORE >>

To date most of the Golf-Patents blog “can you identify this product” tests (based upon a design patent’s drawings)have been relatively easy. Well, not this one. So, congratulate yourself if you can identify this putter...<< MORE >>

I was honored to be a guest on the Tee Time Radio program. This great golf radio program is hosted by CJ McDaniel, the CEO of Crenshaw Golf and the PGA’s first Director of Marketing, Lisa DePaulo, a member of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Division and former LPGA Tour pro, and Dan Potter, Texas' most-listened-to Radio news anchor. I encourage you to listen to the program... Click here to listen...<< MORE >>

In the past your knowledge of iron club head design, putter design, and driver design has been tested. Now let’s revisit putter designs. How good are you at identifying a particular brand of putter when all the logos and trademarks are stripped off the club head? The figure below comes from a US putter design patent that issued this week to a major producer of clubs. Can you identify the brand of this putter? ...<< MORE >>

This week AccuSport International was issued a design patent on an interesting ball marking template. The following figure is from USPN D542,875 titled “Golf Ball Marking Guide.”...<< MORE >>

Earlier this week I authored a post that takes a look at the patents of Dave Pelz, Phil Mickelson’s short-game coach. It got me thinking… is Butch Harmon, Phil’s other coach, listed as an inventor on any patents? Well, the answer is no… but in the process of researching the issue I happened across an interesting invention of a Mr. Al Harmon (I have no idea if they are related). Al’s invention (disclosed in USPN 4,792,149 is a pedal powered golf cart. Interesting concept. Would you pay to rent a cart that you had to pedal? Check out the following figure from the patent...<< MORE >>

On May 11th GPS Industries and Optimal IP Holdings filed a patent infringement lawsuit against 10 defendants (3:07CV0831-K, Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division). The list of defendants reads like a Who’s Who of the golfing GPS world. The defendants include... The lawsuit centers around USPN 5364093 titled “Golf Distance Measuring System and Method.”... It will be interesting to see how the case plays out, as several of the defendants also own patents related to GPS systems...<< MORE >>

Last week an interesting patent issued to Callaway; namely USPN 7,214,143 titled “Golf Club Head with a Face Insert.” The patent is directed to a multi-layer face insert having a nickel-iron layer and a layer of titanium, titanium alloy, steel alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, aluminum, or aluminum alloy. In one embodiment the nickel-iron alloy is a nanocrystalline nickel...<< MORE >>

Today’s drivers sound a lot different than clubs of ten years ago. The changes are largely associated with the changes in the materials used in the construction of drivers. Now days virtually every driver incorporates titanium alloys, and many incorporate composite materials. With regard to the sound of impact, manufacturers can choose to either (a) ignore how the club sounds at impact (not smart), (b) tune the club head to achieve a desirable sound at impact (see this post), or (c) seek to reduce, or attenuate, the sound of impact. Last week Acushnet was granted a patent directed at the later; namely reducing, or attenuating, the sound of impact....<< MORE >>

After watching the Players Championship this weekend there is little doubt that Michelson has one of the best short-games in the past twenty years. Perhaps there is something to Dave Pelz’s instruction. Ever wonder if he has patented any golf instruction aides? It turns out that Dave Pelz is a listed inventor on 12 golf patents. He has patented everything from sets of wedges with specific groove shapes and spacing to putters and putter practice aides. The patents are really some interesting reading (and I bet most of his inventions do actually improve your game). Check out the following...<< MORE >>

This week an interesting golf tee design patent issued. As far as golf tees go, design patents are few and far between. This is why USPN D542,366 titled “Golf Tee” deserves a look. The following figure shows it all...<< MORE >>

I am not familiar with the Eing Nan Rubber Company of Taiwan, but this week they were the recipient of an interesting golf grip patent. USPN 7214141 titled “Air Cushion Type Sleeve of a Handle of a Golf Club” is directed to a golf grip with an underlisting formed with a plurality of cavities. The outer sleeve then seals the underlisting forming air pockets in the cavities. Check out the following figure from the patent... I would love to get my hands on a few of these grips to see how they feel...<< MORE >>

An interesting patent application published this week as US Pub. No. 20070105645 titled “Golf Clubs.” The application is directed to an interesting feature of an iron's leading edge such that “the resistance of the head to passage through sand is reduced.” Just check out the following figure... This club looks like a true multi-purpose tool; namely a golf club, ax, and saw. Interesting stuff!...<< MORE >>

Most golfers would never guess that their golf shoes’ soft spikes are probably patented. This week a nice example of a golf spike patent application published as US Pub. No. 20070101618 titled “Cleat for Athletic Shoe.” The application describes the invention as: "A golf cleat and system includes cleats having a base and a plurality of barbs... A perpendicular surface is formed by the distal end extending from the base and preferably counters rotational movement ...<< MORE >>

Things appear to be heating up in the golf shaft patenting arena. Regular readers of the Golf-Patents blog know that I was surprised by the low number of golf shaft related patents that issued in 2006... This week another interesting shaft patent application published as US Pub. No. 20070105644 titled “Golf Club Shaft.” The application is assigned to SRI Sports and is directed to an improved golf club shaft made of fiber reinforced resin... Let’s face it, very few golfers ever consider the amount of engineering R&D that does into the design of a golf club shaft. If you have ever wondered why shafts can be pretty expensive just read this application. The design, orientation, and placement of the multiple plies are engineered to a level that few people can appreciate. Just consider the figure below illustrating the various layers that make up this shaft. << MORE >>

Sometimes patent attorney’s can become jaded (hard to believe, I know). For instance, the first thing I said to myself when I saw the patent application that published yesterday as US Pub. No. 20070102082 titled “Golf Club Cover” was… “how many of these novelty head covers must the inventor sell just to cover the cost of the patent application?” Nonetheless, the invention is somewhat amusing (in a “cute, but I would never buy it” kind of way). See what you think. The application describes the invention as: "The present invention is directed at a humorous club head cover. The club head cover is designed to resemble the rear end of an animal...<< MORE >>

Today a patent application published as US Publication No. 20070101524 titled “Shoe Cleaning Sand Rake.” The title was so compelling that I had to check it out. The following is a figure from the application... The application describes the invention as:... I must not fully appreciate the dangers of the vast amount of sand stuck to the bottom of my golf shoes when I exit a bunker!...<< MORE >>

Patent litigation is expensive! There is no way around it. This is true whether a case settles after 2 months, 2 years, or goes all the way through trial. There are ways to more efficiently litigate a patent infringement case, but that is for another post. Generally when companies discuss the cost of patent litigation they only focus on the legal costs (i.e. what the law firm representing them has charged). Those of you that have been involved in a protracted infringement case know that the cost associated with the burden placed on a company’s key people may ... “We find that firms lose about half a percentage point of their stock market value upon being sued for patent infringement. This corresponds to a mean cost of $28.7 million in 1992 dollars (median of $2.9 million), much larger than the mean legal fees of about half a million.”...<< MORE >>

“Personal Golfing Assistant and Method and System for Graphically Displaying Golf Related Information and For Collection, Processing and Distribution of Golf Related Data.” Wow, what a mouth full. A patent application with this title was recently published as US Publication No. 20070087866. The application is 78 pages and describes the invention as...<< MORE >>

Golf bag related utility patents do not come along everyday, which is why USPN 7,213,705 titled “Ergonomic Golf Bag Top and Club Separator” deserves a post. The ‘705 patent issued yesterday and describes the invention as an ergonomically designed and structured golf bag top and club separator... The following figures illustrate just a couple of the embodiments disclosed in the '705 patent... I really like the nice high putter section to protect those expensive graphite shafts.<< MORE >>

As you may recall the “Fascinated IP of the Week” category is the resting ground for golf inventions that I can’t identify as the next great golf technology or a ridiculous idea (although generally I have a pretty good hunch). The latest “Fascinating IP” award goes to the golf club disclosed in USPN 7,211,006 titled “Golf Club Including Striking Member and Associated Methods.” The patent describes the invention as a golf club head having a striking member that deflects inwardly during initial contact with a golf ball and recovers outwardly as the golf ball ...<< MORE >>

Congratulations go out to Fairplay Electric Cars. Their patent USPN D541,699 titled “Golf Car” issued this week. The Fairplay patent is the first golf cart design patent that has caught my eye since starting the Golf-Patents blog. Check out the following figure from the patent...<< MORE >>

This is one patented golf ball that I hope makes it to the market because it just sounds cool. USPN 7,211,007 titled “Golf Ball Having Visible Non-Spherical Insert” issued this week to Acushnet. The patent describes the invention as:... Translation: a ball with a clear, or nearly see through, cover so that you can see a uniquely shaped insert. The figures below explain it better than any words... << MORE >>

Everyone knows that a catchy domain name can be critical to the success of many businesses. Likewise, a poor domain can cause confusion, and even result in lost business. Additionally, a great domain name can be worth a lot of money. I recently found several funny articles about domain names and the potential of unintended meanings. As you may know, an anagram is a word or phrase made by rearranging the letters in another word or phrase. A particular class of anagrams doesn’t involve the rearranging of any letters but rather the rearranging of spaces. One classic example of this is the transformation of... << MORE >>

I sit here watching The Golf Channel and find myself shaking my head as another invention promotion company commercial plays. I know that the readers of the Golf-Patents blog wouldn’t spend $800 on a new set of irons without doing hours of research; but please do the research before ever picking up the phone and calling an invention promotion company. Here are some things you need to know about the TV commercial invention promotion industry. Invention promotion fraud costs unsuspecting inventors approximately $90 million a year by the false promises of riches. Everyone has heard or seen the advertisements for invention ...<< MORE >>

I have seen USGA’s Senior Technical Director Dick Rugge’s name so much lately that I decided to learn more about him. I was happy to learn that he actually has significant industry experience (he is not an ivory tower academic type). Mr. Rugge worked at Taylor Made for many years as vice-president of product creation and oversaw the design, marketing, research and testing of new clubs. Therefore, the obvious next step was to take a look at golf patents that list Mr. Rugge as an inventor. Pretty nice patent portfolio. Check it out...<< MORE >>

Putting… if only I could one-putt every green. Actually, I would be elated if I could one-putt just 9 greens per round. Is that asking too much? One-putts may be less elusive for users of the invention disclosed in a patent application that published this week. US Publication No. 20070099729 titled “Golf Green Reading Device” describes itself as ...<< MORE >>

Increase your club head speed and the ball should go further. Simple, right? Just swing harder or reduce the aerodynamic drag of your golf club... The problem is that whenever I increase my club head speed I usually find my tee shot on nice short grass in the vicinity of little red markers on the ground. Some people refer to the area as the women’s tee box. Perhaps I should be looking into reducing the drag of my club head. Maybe the golf club disclosed in US Publication No. 20070093315 will solve all my problems ...<< MORE >>

Putters, putters, putters… They are a love / hate relationship for golfers. How good are you at identifying a particular brand of putter just from the shape of the sole? If you correctly answer this one then you are officially a golf equipment geek. The figure below comes from a US putter design patent that issued this week to a major producer of clubs. Can you identify the brand of putter ...<< MORE >>

An interesting golf related design patent issued today as USPN D541,832 titled "Graticule for Golf Scope." As more and more golfers use yardage scopes the manufacturers appear to be looking for unique ways to protect their products. This is one creative use of design patenting! Check out the following scope figure....<< MORE >>

Why are golf ball dimple pattern patents so interesting? No, really… I am being serious. It must be the engineer in me… I love reading about dimple patterns. The bizarre geometry, the complicated layouts, the terminology, how they influence drag, … it is just fascinating stuff. This week congratulations go out to Acushnet for USPN 7207905 titled “Golf Ball Dimples.” The patent describes the invention as: ... Check out some of the embodiments disclosed in the patent... Did you know that tessellated dimples are dimples arranged in a tiled pattern with generally uniform land widths between the dimples?...<< MORE >>

I recently stumbled across USPN 4471961 titled “Golf Club with Bulge Radius and Increased Moment of Inertia about an Inclined Axis.” The ‘961 invention is described as:...If you love golf club technology then you will find the ‘961 patent a fascinating read (as I did). The patent left me thinking “so which golf club giant invented this?” A quick check of who the assignee is left me perplexed...<< MORE >>

USPN 4508349 titled “Golf Club” discloses a golf club with a unique striking face. In fact the striking face has what the patent refers to as an “accentuated roll.” I would consider that an understatement. Check out the following drawing of the club. Would you play it?<< MORE >>

A fellow blogger over at the Trademark Branding Cap site has a funny post that is a must read for anyone considering filing a trademark application on their own. It is common for self-filers to end up spending more for the assistance of an attorney to try to straighten out the self-filers mistakes than the filer would have paid to have the attorney do the work from the beginning. Just like the fact that I could try to fix my car’s air conditioning system myself to save a couple hundred bucks… only to end up ...<< MORE >>

All remotely serious golfers know how important a golfer's grasp on the club grip is to producing consistent shots. Therefore, as one would expect, there have been a lot of inventions over the years attempting to aid golfers in gripping the club properly (just one example was previously discussed here). Recently an interesting golf glove patent application was published as US Publication No. 20070044202 titled “Golf Glove.” The secret of this invention lies in the fact that the glove’s little finger is secured to the ring finger, and the ring finger is secured to the...<< MORE >>

Now days virtually every golf club and golf ball is covered by at least one patent. So why is it that very rarely do you see a patent number on a club head or on the golf ball packaging? In the old days clubs wore patent numbers on their soles as a proud stamp of innovation. Just check out the sole of an early Tight Lies® club. I can’t even recall the last time I saw a patent number on a club in a pro shop (and I am one of the few people that ...<< MORE >>

In the past several decades the value of the average business has shifted from being composed of roughly 80% hard assets (building, machines, inventory), often called tangible assets, to now roughly 80% intangible assets (intellectual property)! This is a major shift. Just look at Google's purchase of YouTube for $1.65 billion. What percentage of the purchase price reflected the value of hard assets (probably just buildings and computers)? I would speculate that it would be less than 10%. You can bet that the major companies in the golf industry value intellectual property. If you have any doubt... just check out the following posts. Each year, WIPO and its Member States celebrate World Intellectual Property Day with activities, events and campaigns...While I have yet to attend a World Intellectual Property Day party (even within patent attorney circles), perhaps some day it will be a worldwide holiday complete with parades and dancing in the streets...<< MORE >>

If being sued is no fun, then being sued for patent infringement can only be described as pure torture. Not only is it very expensive to defend yourself in a patent infringement lawsuit, but it places a huge burden on a company’s key people, thereby distracting them from developing innovative new products. Depositions, discovery, and worst of all… dealing with attorneys! Acushnet is currently defending not one, but two, multi-year golf ball patent infringement lawsuits. Just consider that one of the cases had 8 depositions scheduled to take place in March alone. Success makes any company a potential target of patent infringement accusations, especially when it is estimated that your annual revenues associated with one line of golf balls is more than $200 million!...<< MORE >>

Patents directed to wedges do not come along every day. Even more elusive is a utility patent (rather than design patent) directed to a wedge. Still further, a wedge utility patent that the average golfer can quickly associate with an actual product on the market is even more elusive. This is why I want to share USPN 7207900 titled “Golf Club Head Weight Adjustment Member” with you. Do you recognize this wedge?...<< MORE >>

Yesterday USPN 7207894 titled “Golf Club Gripping Aid and Method of Use Thereof” issued to inventor Marmon Pine. The patent describes the invention as a golf grip, device, and method to hold a golf club shaft in a manner to avoid pinching the golf club shaft between the fingers and the thumb of the dominant hand. The invention includes a golf glove that has the thumb and index finger attached to one another. The glove is designed to be used in training and actual play to provide an improved grip which encourages a proper swing ...<< MORE >>

Hybrids, iron-woods, rescue clubs, utility clubs,… whatever you call them, it seems as though their popularity is growing every year. The following figures come from a utility patent directed to a hybrid set. Can you identify the manufacturer? (scroll way down for the answer and photographs)...<< MORE >>