Appeal No. 2004-0285 Page 2
Application No. 08/989,320
BACKGROUND
The appellant's invention relates to a golf putter head. An understanding of the
invention can be derived from a reading of exemplary claim 10, which has been
reproduced below.
Claims 10, 12, 22-24, 26, 30 and 31 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Bulla U. S. Patent No. 3,266,805, issued August 16, 1996.
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and
the appellant regarding the above-noted rejection, we make reference to the Answer
(Paper No. 40) for the examiner's reasoning in support of the rejection, and to the Brief
(Paper No. 39) and Reply Brief (Paper No. 41) for the appellant's arguments
thereagainst.
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to
the appellant's specification and claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the
respective positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner. As a consequence
of our review, we make the determinations which follow.
The appellant explains that in the prior art metal was the traditional material of
choice for putter heads, and attempts were made to improve upon this construction by
providing an internal cavity to absorb energy from the impact of the head with the golf
ball to soften the impact and cause the ball to travel slower and with more accuracy.
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