Appeal No. 2004-0285 Page 4
Application No. 08/989,320
clubs in a set. With regard to the Shore hardness range, the examiner has taken the
position that the range has no upper limit and therefore would include virtually any
putter, since Shore A85 is relatively soft in comparison to known metals and plastic.
In expressing the foregoing views, the examiner has made reference to
statements made by a panel of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in a prior
decision on this case in which the examiner’s rejection of an earlier version of claim 10
as being unpatentable over Bulla was sustained.1 The present claim 10 contains the
additional limitations that (1) the plastic and metal are “uniformly blended,” (2) the metal
filler is “all powder prior to being uniformly blended with the plastic,” and (3) the finished
putter has a “minimum hardness” of Shore A85.
The appellant has presented several arguments in opposition to the examiner's
conclusion of obviousness, none of which we find to be persuasive, for the reasons
explained below.
Bulla discloses a set of golf clubs, including a putter, in which the club heads are
made of a moldable plastic and a metal filler that can be “filaments, fillings, or of
powder form” (column 1, lines 63 to 67; column 4, line 18; emphasis added). This
being the case, the appellant’s argument that one of ordinary skill in the art would not
have been taught by Bulla to use a powdered metal material is incorrect. Further in this
regard, while Bulla states that a “suitable” plastic composition for club heads would
1No. 2001-1400, mailed September 26, 2001.
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