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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. It is not clear how the sole further comprises a fastening recess. According to the figures the fastening recess 126 is not located near sole 116 (see figure 3).
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 4-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hettinger et al. (2023/0072814). Claim 1, Hettinger discloses a golf club head comprising a striking face portion; a back portion comprise: an upper blade portion 4156 extending backward from an upper portion of the striking face portion; a gutter 4155 extending downward from the upper blade portion; and a lower muscle portion 4188 extending downward from the gutter (fig 139) [0425]. The lower muscle portion comprises a back flange (perimeter surrounding recessed channel), wherein the back flange comprises a removable weight assembly recess and a weight recess (recessed channel 4126 is the recess that houses the weight assembly 4104 and the weight 4128) [0428], and a sole 4102 connecting a lower portion of the striking face portion 4110 to the back flange [0423] (fig 140); and a removable weight assembly 4104 comprising (fig 142); a removable weight 4128 to fit into the removable weight assembly recess (channel 4126); and a cover portion 4130 to at least partially cover the removable weight assembly recess in a locked configuration (fig 139), wherein the cover portion 4130 comprises a cover opening 4172 [0431]. Claim 2, as understood by the Examiner (see 112 rejection above), the club head comprises a fastening recess 4172, wherein the golf club head further comprises a fastening mechanism 4132 to fit into the fastening recess 4172, and wherein the fastening mechanism is configured to secure the cover portion in the locked configuration thereby securing the removable weight [0432] (fig 139). Claim 4, the removable weight comprises a metal [0179]. Claim 5, the metal is one of a tungsten [0179]. Claim 6, the removable weight 4128 is a flat weight (fig 143). Claim 7, the cover portion 4130 is flush with surrounding portions of the golf club head in the locked configuration thereby providing a virtually indistinguishable golf club head from a traditional golf club head [0435]. Claim 8, the weight recess (channel 4126) comprises a protrusion (track 4136) to engage the removable weight thereby preventing rotation of the removable weight in the locked configuration [0442]. The track would prevent the weight from rotating in the locked position. Claim 9, the cover portion (4130) comprises threads (4132) to engage with corresponding threads in the weight recess (figs 141-142).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-20 are allowed.
Claim 3 is 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.
Conclusion
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/RAEANN GORDEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711
March 13, 2026