Appeal No. 2002-1163
Application 09/393,374
the putter to remain free standing when the bottom face of the
putter is placed on the green in the striking position, the
remainder of the specification, e.g., at pages 4 through 7,
provides no clear indication of exactly how these results are to
be achieved, since the specification merely uses the same type of
open-ended language as appears in the claims presently on appeal.
For example, page 5 of the specification indicates that the
putter head (10) of Fig. 2 will remain free standing so long as
the mass of the head is “at least about fourteen (14) ounces and
the combined mass of the shaft and grip is less than about three
(3) ounces.” Page 6 indicates that in the preferred embodiment
the bottom face is flat and defines a foot surface that is “about
four (4) inches long” and of “about eight (8) square inches.”
At this point, we again note that the claims on appeal do
not require that the claimed putter be free standing or have that
capability. Thus, it is clear that a claimed putter having a
head weight of “about fourteen ounces,” a shaft and grip weight
of “less than about three (3) ounces,” a shaft extending from the
top surface of the head at an angle of “about 10° to about 25°”
from vertical, and having a foot surface area of “at least about
eight square inches” need not necessarily be free standing.
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