DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 line 8 recites “a one or more.” Presumably this was intended to recite “one or more.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Myers (US Patent No. 10,596,421 B1).
In Reference to Claim 1
Myers teaches (Claim 1) A golf club head comprising: a body portion further comprising a crown portion (item 40, fig’s 1-12), a sole portion (item 30, fig’s 1-12), a heel portion (item 22, fig’s 1-12), and a toe portion (item 24, fig’s 1-12); a hosel region located near a heel portion of said golf club head (item 60, fig’s 1-12), said hosel region further comprising; an upper end having a releasable hosel mechanism (at item 62, items 80 / 90 and other separably connected shaft parts, fig’s 1-12, column 4 lines 26-41), a lower end having a hosel hole (item 32, fig’s 9 and 10), said hosel hole further comprising; a one or more non-threaded recessed undercuts along a side wall of said hosel hole (at rim of item 32, item 33a, fig’s 9, 10, 11 and 12, fig’s 11 and 12, show this lip is undercut), a threaded screw, adapted to engage said releasable hosel mechanism (item 96, fig’s 11 and 12, engaging item 80), a hosel hole cover, adapted to substantially cover an entirety of an internal surface said hosel hole (item 100, fig’s 1-12), and a retention mechanism, adapted to secure said hosel hole cover to said golf club head, wherein said retention mechanism comprises one or more non-threaded protrusions (protruding lip portion of item 100/110, best shown in fig’s 11 and 12, mating with undercut rim of item 32), a circlip (item 112, fig’s 1-12), adapted to engage said threaded screw to retain said hosel hole cover to said threaded screw (column 5 lines 5-26, item 112 is fixedly engaged to the cover and engages the screw), and wherein said one or more non-threaded protrusions are adapted to engage said one or more non-threaded recessed undercuts to secure said hosel hole cover to said golf club head (protruding lip portion of item 100/110, best shown in fig’s 11 and 12, mating with undercut rim of item 32).
In Reference to Claim 10
Myers teaches (Claim 10) A golf club head comprising: a body portion further comprising a crown portion (item 40, fig’s 1-12), a sole portion (item 30, fig’s 1-12), a heel portion (item 22, fig’s 1-12), and a toe portion (item 24, fig’s 1-12); a hosel region located near a heel portion of said golf club head (item 60, fig’s 1-12), said hosel region further comprising; an upper end having a releasable hosel mechanism (at item 62, items 80 / 90 and other separably connected shaft parts, fig’s 1-12, column 4 lines 26-41), a lower end having a hosel hole (item 32, fig’s 9 and 10), a threaded screw, adapted to engage said releasable hosel mechanism (item 96, fig’s 11 and 12, engaging item 80), a hosel hole cover, adapted to substantially cover an entirety of an internal surface said hosel hole (item 100, fig’s 1-12), and a circlip (item 112, fig’s 1-12), wherein said circlip is adapted to engage both said hosel hole cover and said threaded screw to retain said hosel hole cover to said threaded screw (column 5 lines 5-26, item 112 is fixedly engaged to the cover and engages the screw).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9 and 11-15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The specific structural limitations of a screw head with a circular recess located circumferentially around the screw head which is adapted to engage with a circlip to connect the hosel hole cover to the recess in the screw are not anticipated nor obvious over the prior art of record in the examiner’s opinion. For example, the prior art of Myers, as discussed above, teaches a golf club with an upper releasable hosel mechanism and a lower end with a hosel hole that has a cover with a retention mechanism including a clip to engage a threaded screw, but fails to teach a screw head with a circular recess located circumferentially around the screw head which is adapted to engage with a circlip to connect the hosel hole cover to the recess in the screw. Similarly, the prior art of Kingston (US Patent No. 10,076,691) and Suwa et al. (US Patent No. 8,876,626 B2) teach golf clubs with releasable hosel mechanisms that include a hosel hole and a threaded screw, with a cover engaging the screw, but fail to teach a screw head with a circular recess located circumferentially around the screw head which is adapted to engage with a circlip to connect the hosel hole cover to the recess in the screw.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additionally cited references disclose inventions similar to applicant’s claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH B BALDORI whose telephone number is (571)270-7424. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am to 5pm EST.
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/JOSEPH B BALDORI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711
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