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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on 5-31-2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 2023-001870, 2023-001873, 2023-001873 applications as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (2023/0082849) in view of Umezawa (2013/0196790). Claim 1, Watanabe discloses a golf ball comprising a spherical core, an intermediate layer covering the spherical core, and an outermost cover positioned outside the intermediate layer and having a plurality of dimples (fig 1). The slab hardness Hc (Shore D) of a cover composition constituting the outermost cover is 35 Shore D [0089] and a thickness Tc (mm) of the outermost cover is 1 mm [0091]. Watanabe does not disclose the plurality of dimples have a total lower volume Vi of more than 365 mm3. Umezawa teaches a three-layer golf ball comprising a total lower dimple volume (fig 2) of 464.4 mm3 (table 3) [(40x1.53) + (184x1.31) + (96x0.73) + (32x1.72) + (16x1.45) + (16x0.62) + (8x0.49)]. Solving for equation 8.5≤Tc/Hc×Vi (1/35x464.4 = 13.2). One of ordinary skill in the art would have modified the dimple volume for the desired flight performance. Claim 2, Watanabe discloses the slab hardness Hc of the cover composition constituting the outermost cover ranges from 35-60 in Shore D hardness, and the thickness Tc of the outermost cover ranges from 0.3 mm to 1.2 mm [0089, 0091]. Claim 3, Umezawa teaches the total lower volume Vi of the plurality of dimples is 464.4 mm3 (table 3) [(40x1.53) + (184x1.31) + (96x0.73) + (32x1.72) + (16x1.45) + (16x0.62) + (8x0.49)]. Claim 4, Watanabe discloses a hardness difference (Hms-Hcs) between a surface hardness Hms of the intermediate layer and a surface hardness Hcs of the golf ball is more than 0 in Shore C hardness (98-87) (table 6, example 1). Claim 5, Watanabe discloses a hardness difference (Hms-Hs) between a surface hardness Hms of the intermediate layer and a surface hardness Hs of the spherical core is more than 0 in Shore C hardness (98-87.4) (table 6, example 1). Claim 6, Watanabe discloses the cover composition constituting the outermost cover is a resin composition containing a polyurethane as a base resin [0093]. Claim 7, Watanabe discloses a golf ball comprising a spherical core, an intermediate layer covering the spherical core, and an outermost cover positioned outside the intermediate layer and having a plurality of dimples (fig 1). Watanabe discloses a center hardness Hо (Shore C) of the spherical core, a surface hardness Hs (Shore C) of the spherical core, the slab hardness Hc (Shore D) of a cover composition constituting the outermost cover is 35 Shore D [0089], and a thickness Tc (mm) of the outermost cover is 1 mm [0091]. Watanabe does not disclose the plurality of dimples have a total lower volume Vi of more than 365 mm3. Umezawa teaches a three-layer golf ball comprising a total lower dimple volume (fig 2) of 464.4 mm3 (table 3) [(40x1.53) + (184x1.31) + (96x0.73) + (32x1.72) + (16x1.45) + (16x0.62) + (8x0.49)]. Solving for equation (H-S) = 18 [0076] {(Hs-Ho)/(Vi×Tc/Hc)}<2.1 [18/(464.4(1/35)) = 1.4]. One of ordinary skill in the art would have modified the dimple volume for the desired flight performance. Claim 8, Watanabe discloses a hardness difference (Hs-Ho) between the surface hardness Hs of the spherical core and the center hardness Hо of the spherical core is less than 20 in Shore C hardness [0076]. Claim 9, Umezawa teaches the total lower volume Vi of the plurality of dimples is 464.4 mm3 (table 3) [(40x1.53) + (184x1.31) + (96x0.73) + (32x1.72) + (16x1.45) + (16x0.62) + (8x0.49)]. Claim 10, Watanabe discloses the slab hardness Hc of the cover composition constituting the outermost cover ranges from 35-60 in Shore D hardness, and the thickness Tc of the outermost cover ranges from 0.3 mm to 1.2 mm [0089, 0091]. Claim 11, Watanabe discloses a hardness difference (Hms-Hcs) between a surface hardness Hms of the intermediate layer and a surface hardness Hcs of the golf ball is more than 0 in Shore C hardness (98-87) (table 6, example 1). Claim 12, Watanabe discloses a hardness difference (Hms-Hs) between a surface hardness Hms of the intermediate layer and a surface hardness Hs of the spherical core is more than 0 in Shore C hardness (98-87.4) (table 6, example 1). Claim 13, Watanabe discloses the cover composition constituting the outermost cover is a resin composition containing a polyurethane as a base resin [0093]. Claim 14, Watanabe discloses a golf ball comprising a spherical core, an intermediate layer covering the spherical core, and an outermost cover positioned outside the intermediate layer and having a plurality of dimples (fig 1). Watanabe discloses a center hardness Ho (Shore C hardness) of the spherical core, a surface hardness Hs (Shore C hardness) of the spherical core, a hardness difference S=Hs-Ho is 18 [0076], and a material hardness Hm (Shore D hardness) of the intermediate layer is 60 [0078]. Watanabe discloses the plurality of dimples have a total lower volume Vi 315 mm3 (table 3), but does not satisfy the equation. Umezawa teaches a three-layer golf ball comprising a total lower dimple volume (fig 2) of 464.4 mm3 (table 3) [(40x1.53) + (184x1.31) + (96x0.73) + (32x1.72) (16x1.45) + (16x0.62) + (8x0.49)]. Solving for S×Hm/Vi<2.4 (18x(60/464.4) = 2.3). Claim 15, 0.35<(H10-Ho)/S<0.6 is satisfied where H10 is a hardness at a 10 mm point from a center of the spherical core (fig 4, comp ex 2). Claim 16, the hardness difference S<20 [0076]. Claims 17-18, Umezawa teaches the total lower volume Vi of the plurality of dimples is 464.4 mm3 (table 3) [(40x1.53) + (184x1.31) + (96x0.73) + (32x1.72) + (16x1.45) + (16x0.62) + (8x0.49)]. Claim 19, Watanabe discloses the surface hardness (Shore C hardness) of the spherical core < a surface hardness (Shore C hardness) of the intermediate layer > a surface hardness (Shore C hardness) of the golf ball (table 6, ex 1). Claim 20, Watanabe discloses the outermost cover contains a polyurethane as a resin component [0093]. One of ordinary skill in the art would have modified the dimple volume for the desired flight performance.
Conclusion
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/RAEANN GORDEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711
January 16, 2026