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| Callaway Files Suit Over
Technology Of Pro V1 Design |
Callaway Golf has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Delaware Federal Court against Acushnet, claiming that the Titleist Pro V1 golf ball “uses technology covered by four key patents that Callaway owns,” according to Jennifer Davies of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The patents in question “previously were part of Top-Flite’s portfolio and are several years old,” but Callaway said that it “acquired those patents when it purchased” the bankrupt company in ’03. Callaway Senior VP/Global Press & PR Larry Dorman said that the sides “had long been in settlement talks, but negotiations recently broke down.” Web Street Golf Report publisher Terry McAndrew said that “these type of patent skirmishes are quite common” in the golf industry. McAndrew: “It is a litigious industry. The reason why it is a little bit more so than other industries is because it’s not growing. It’s static. In general, that means there is a turf war going on” (
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/10).
BEAR HUNTING: In Salt Lake City, Bob Mims reports Ogio Int’l is suing Jack Nicklaus Golf Equipment “for stealing its golf bag design.” Ogio has a patent for its “ergonomic golf bag top and club separator” design that keeps woods and irons separated, “protecting them from damaging contact.” Nicklaus several months later began selling its Air Max bag “with similar features to that of Ogio’s Woode brand bag.” While almost all bags have separate, padded slots to organize and protect the clubs, Ogio’s “‘segregates woods, irons and putters vertically, as well as horizontally” (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 2/10).
