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 § 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 7-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Parsons et al. (2016/0107037). Claim 1, Parsons discloses a golf ball having an outer surface comprising a plurality of dimples disposed thereon, wherein the dimples are arranged in a first domain having a first dimple pattern and a second domain having a second dimple pattern that is different from the first dimple pattern, the first and second domain each being defined by three irregular segments connected to each other via three respective vertices, the first and second domains each consisting of perimeter dimples and interior dimples, the first domain and the second domain being tessellated to cover the outer surface of the golf ball in a uniform pattern having no dimple-free great circles and consisting of four first domains and four second domains (fig 2 and fig 6), each of the first and second domains having three-way rotational symmetry, wherein the plurality of dimples comprises dimples having six or more different dimple diameters including a minimum dimple diameter (1), a maximum dimple diameter (7), and at least four additional dimple diameters (2-6); the perimeter dimples of the first domain have at least three dimple diameters (2, 5, 6) (fig 4); the perimeter dimples of the second domain have at least three dimple diameters (5, 3, 4)(fig 7); the interior dimples of the first domain have exactly three dimple diameters (5, 6, 7)(fig 4); the interior dimples of the second domain have exactly three dimple diameters (5, 6, 7)(fig 7) [0032, 0035]; and the total number of dimples is no greater than four hundred [0004]. Claim 2, the dimples of the first domain and the dimples of the second domain each include at least one dimple having the same dimple diameter (7) (fig 4 and 7). Claim 7, the perimeter dimples in at least one of the first domain or the second domain do not include a dimple having the maximum dimple diameter (7) (fig 4 and 7). Claim 8, the perimeter dimples in at least one of the first domain or the second domain do not include a dimple having the minimum dimple diameter (fig 7). Claim 9, the dimple or pair of dimples that is nearest to each vertex of the first domain does not have the minimum dimple diameter (fig 7). Claim 10, the dimple or pair of dimples that is nearest to each vertex of the first domain does not have the maximum dimple diameter (fig 4 and 7). Claim 11, the dimple or pair of dimples that is nearest to each vertex of the second domain does not have the minimum dimple diameter (fig 7). Claim 12, the dimple or pair of dimples that is nearest to each vertex of the second domain does not have the maximum dimple diameter (fig 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-20 are allowed.
Claims 3-6 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAEANN GORDEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4409. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eugene Kim can be reached at 571-272-4463. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/RAEANN GORDEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711
July 30, 2026
Prosecution Insights