Appeal 2007-2315
Application 10/095,265
10. “Club head 20 may be any type or size of standard golf club head, such
as a wood or an iron, and may be formed from a variety of well known
materials such as metal, wood, or graphite” (Herber, col. 5, ll. 10-13).
Gedeon
11. Gedeon describes a golf putter with a long grip 18 which extends “over
substantially the entire length of the straight portion 17 of the shaft” which
allows a golfer to grip the club at different locations along the shaft
(Gedeon, col. 3, ll. 37-52; Answer 4).
12. “The lower part of the grip 18 is only used when the golfer crouches
close to the ground or bends low over the ball in using the club. This can
happen when the golfer putts by facing toward the hole holding the club with
one hand close to head 11 and the other midway or higher along the shaft.
. . . Still another position is taken when the golfer stands facing
perpendicular to the line of the putt, and bends over the ball and the club
until the top of the shaft touches the golfer’s chest with one hand low on the
grip 18 and the other hand at the top of grip 18” (Gedeon, col. 3, ll. 39-49).
DISCUSSION
The issue in this appeal is whether the Examiner erred in determining
that it would have been obvious to persons of ordinary skill in the art at the
time the invention was made to have modified Curry’s golf club grip by
extending it to a “length being greater than 15 inches along the golf club
shaft” on an “iron or wood type golf club” as recited in claim 1.
Curry describes a golf club grip of “say 12, 13, 14 or 15 inches”
(Curry at 2, col. 1, ll. 37-41; Findings of Fact 3), but does not explicitly
disclose that it be “greater than 15 inches along the golf club shaft” as
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