Do you think you’ve come up with the next hot driver? The next infallible putter? The next GPS-guided, rolling travel bag that serves as both a swing coach and inflatable “travel companion?”

Congratulations!

But before you run off to open a new bank account, consider first the words of my grandma Elsie, who told me long ago: “Chances are, if you’ve got a good idea, someone else has the exact same idea. No one’s as original as they think they are.”

Grandma may have been a bit of a buzzkill, but she was terribly wise. And, it turns out, she was right.

What to do, then, if you think you’ve got the next sand wedge or movable weight driver on your hands (or rather, in your head)?

Your first stop should be Golf-Patents.com, a blog and information site written by a patent attorney named David Dawsey. Dawsey likes to research golf patents, so, according to the blurb on the website, he decided to build a repository for new and old patents, including the sketches of proposed clubs, training aids, and…well, all kinds of stuff that’ll never make a dime.

So you there. You with the idea to fill the head of an iron or driver with gas or fluid to increase MOI. Tough luck. Two patents have just been approved for just that same design.

Good ol’ Grandma.

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