DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is responsive to the following communication received:
12/16/2025 – Power of Attorney and Statement Under 37 CFR 3.73;
12/22/2025 – Amendment (including amendments to the claims and to the specification), Terminal Disclaimer, Petition for Unintentional Delay of Priority Claim, and Supplemental Application Data Sheet; and
07/23/2026 – Request for Reconsideration and Review of Petition for Unintentional Delay of Priority Claim.
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 .
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 12/22/2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of 10449427 and 10850172 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-10 remain pending.
Decisions on Petitions
The petition under 37 CFR 1.78(e) filed 12/22/2025 to accept the unintentionally delayed claim under 35 U.S.C. §120 has been dismissed. See the decision, mailed 06/25/2026.
The renewed petition under 37 CFR 1.78(e) filed 07/23/2026 to accept the unintentionally delayed claim under 35 U.S.C. §120 has been dismissed. See the decision, mailed 08/05/2026.
Response to Arguments
In the arguments, received 12/22/2025, the applicant addresses the concerns related to the inconsistencies in the filing receipt and in the application data sheet regarding a claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. §120. Further, the applicant addresses the outstanding objections to the specification, the objections to the claims, the rejections of the claims under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) and the rejections of the claims under nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting.
IN RESPONSE:
The previous objections to the specification along with the previous objections to the claims have been withdrawn.
The previous rejections of the claims under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) have been overcome.
The previous rejections of the claims under nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting have been overcome as a result of the receipt of a properly-filed and timely-submitted terminal disclaimer, received 12/22/2025.
With respect to the concerns about the claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. §120, see the decisions on petitions, mailed 06/25/2026 and 08/05/2026. The decision mailed 06/25/2026, which is based upon the initial petition for a benefit claim under 35 U.S.C. §120, confirms that the actual filing date of this application is November 28, 2023 and that the Office cannot enter the desired change in the benefit claims sought due to a lack of fee payment. Further, the decision mailed 08/05/2026, which is based upon the renewed petition, confirms that there is a break in continuity of the benefit claims in the current application and that the Office cannot enter the desired change in the benefit claims sought. Thus, without the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120, the effective filing date of the instant claims has been determined to be equal to the actual filing date of this application, namely November 28, 2023. Applicant’s attention is directed to the grounds of rejection set forth hereinbelow.
FOLLOWING IS AN ACTION ON THE MERITS:
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US PUBS 2019/0009144 to Stokke et al (hereinafter referred to as “Stokke”).
At the outset, it is noted that the effective filing date of claims 1-10 is equal to the actual filing date of this application, namely November 28, 2023.
As to claim 1, Stokke shows a golf club head (220; FIG. 17) comprising:
a front portion comprising a front end (232); a back portion comprising a back end (234) opposite the front end; a club head length measured between the front end and the back end (i.e., a club head length is discussed in paragraph [0119]), a heel portion (2203); a toe portion (2202) opposite the heel portion; a sole (2304); a crown (2201) opposite the sole having a crown length, wherein FIG. 1 shows a crown front portion, a crown middle portion, and a crown back portion; a faceplate (2250) located in the front portion; and a ribbed region (2210) located at least partially within both the crown middle portion and the crown back portion (i.e., FIG. 17 shows a ribbed region);
wherein the ribbed region (2210) is not located within the crown front portion (i.e., FIG. 1 shows a distance (22101) within which the ribbed region is absent); and
the ribbed region comprising:
a ribbed wall (FIGS. 5-8) comprising:
a ribbed wall interior surface (2611) facing an interior of the golf club head;
a ribbed wall exterior surface (2612) facing an exterior of the golf club head opposite the ribbed wall interior surface; and
two external ribs (222) protruding from the ribbed wall exterior surface, wherein the two external ribs extend from near the back end toward the front end of the club head in the ribbed region (FIG. 17).
Here, the combination of paragraphs [0100] and [0114] in Stokke disclose that the two external ribs comprise a toe-side external rib and a heel-side external rib; the toe-side external rib having: a first, toe-side external rib endpoint; a second, toe-side external rib endpoint; and a toe-side external rib axis intersecting the first, toe-side external rib endpoint and the second, toe-side external rib endpoint; and the heel-side external rib having: a first, heel-side external rib endpoint; a second, heel-side external rib endpoint; and a heel-side external rib axis intersecting the first, heel-side external rib endpoint and the second, heel-side external rib endpoint.
Stokke additionally discloses wherein the crown length extends from the front end to the back (i.e., paragraphs [0096] and [0105] discuss a length of a crown); and
wherein a front portion thickness is between 0.025 inch (0.635 mm) and 0.029 inch (0.890 mm), as described in paragraph [0118]; and
wherein one of the crown middle portion or the crown back portion has a thickness less
than or equal to 0.020 inch (0.508 mm), as described in paragraph [0118];
the two external ribs (222) each comprise an external rib height, wherein the external rib height decreases from the back end to the front end, as explained in paragraph [0086]; and
the toe-side external rib axis and the heel-side external rib axis do not intersect each other within the crown and are tangent to a locus defined by a conic section perimeter external to the golf club head, rearward of the faceplate. (i.e., paragraph [0101] and FIG. 25).
As to claim 2, the toe-side external rib and the heel-side external rib abut the crown front portion (FIGS. 24-25).
As to claim 3, a front distance is measured from a faceplate top to the ribbed region; and
wherein the front distance is constant between the toe-side external rib and the heel-side
external rib (i.e., see distance 22101; FIG. 1 and paragraph [0066]).
As to claim 4, a front distance is measured from a faceplate top to the ribbed region; and
wherein the front distance varies between the toe-side external rib and the heel-side external
rib (i.e., paragraph [0066]).
As to claim 5, the golf club head further comprises a toe club head edge (2207) and a heel club head edge (2208); and wherein the toe club head edge is defined along a perimeter of the toe portion and the heel club head edge is defined along a perimeter of the heel portion (i.e., see FIG. 22 and paragraph [0095]).
As to claim 6, a toe-side rear distance is measured from the toe club head edge to the toe-side external rib and a heel-side rear distance is measured from the heel club head edge to the heel-side external rib; and wherein the toe-side rear distance decreases in a direction from the front end to the back end and the heel-side rear distance decreases in a direction from the front end to the back end, as shown in FIG. 2 and as explained in paragraph [0095].
As to claim 7, the toe-side rear distance and the heel-side rear distance vary in a range of 0.1 inch to 2.0 inches, as explained in paragraph [0095].
As to claim 8, the toe-side external rib comprises a toe-side external rib length, and the heel-side external rib comprises a heel-side external rib length; and wherein the toe-side external rib length and the heel-side external rib length are each at least 50% of the club head length, as described in paragraph [0096].
As to claim 9, the toe-side external rib comprises a toe-side external rib width, and the heel-side external rib comprises a heel-side external rib width each of which are measured in a heel portion to toe potion; and wherein the toe-side external rib width and the heel-side external rib width varies along the toe-side external rib length and the heel-side external rib length, respectively; wherein the toe-side external rib width ranges from 0.1 inch (2.54mm) to 1.5 inches (38.1mm); and wherein the heel-side external rib width ranges from 0.1 inch (2.54mm) to 1.5 inches (38.1mm), as detailed in paragraph [0097].
As to claim 10, the toe-side external rib width and the heel-side external rib width are each greater near the front end than near the back end, as explained in paragraph [0097].
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEBASTIANO PASSANITI whose telephone number is (571)272-4413. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM-5:00PM Mon-Fri.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Weiss can be reached at (571)-270-1775. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SEBASTIANO PASSANITI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3711
/SEBASTIANO PASSANITI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711
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