Appeal No. 2002-0109
Application No. 09/110,221
Appellants’ invention relates to a high moment of inertia
golf ball which is specifically designed and constructed to have
a relatively low spin rate and a high coefficient of restitution
(COR). The ball has a solid core including a filler material,
such as tungsten, and a cover comprising an ionomer resin
composition including a high quantity (i.e., 3.5 to 20 parts by
weight based upon 100 parts by weight of resin) of a whitening
agent selected from the group consisting of titanium dioxide,
barium sulphite, and zinc sulfide. As noted on page 14 of
appellants’ specification, the high quantity of whitening agent
serves the dual function of both providing the cover with
excellent whiteness and providing outer perimeter weighting to
the ball, which perimeter weighting provides a greater radius of
gyration and thus generates lower initial spin than a
conventional core weighted golf ball. The lower spin rate
reduces slicing and hooking and enhances distance for less
skilled players. A copy of representative claims 1, 17 and 20
can be found in the Appendix to appellants’ brief.
The sole prior art reference of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims is:
Matsuki et al. (Matsuki) 4,863,167 Sep. 5, 1989
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