Another Interesting Patent Pending Putting Stroke; Doesn’t Every Putter Grip Need a Ball at the End?

Patent applications directed to unique methods of putting always grab my attention. Perhaps it is because no matter how bad I am putting I would never think that I should just try unconventional methods of holding and swinging the putter until my putting improves (probably a result of close my minded engineering education rather than a creative artistic education). Luckily, creative people do exist, but I don’t think we will see this stroke on Tour anytime soon. The most recent patent pending putting stroke is disclosed in a patent application that published as US Pub. No. 20080248892 titled “Putting Method and Apparatus.” The application discloses the invention as….. Would you ever think of resting one of your hands on your thigh? Check out these drawings….

Read more

True to Their Words, Acushnet Appeals

Yesterday Acushnet did what it promised and filed an appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in the Titleist ProV1 patent dispute. The case was destined for an appeal; it was just a matter of when it would occur. After all, since there has been over $1.5 billion in sales (see prior post) there is a lot of money at stake. Just consider that a measly 2% of $1.5 billion in sales is $30 million!…..

Read more

Just Like Justin Timberlake, I Will Only Be Playing Callaway Golf Balls for the Next 12 Months

Well, it is long overdue…. the time has come for me to eat my words! While reviewing my posts regarding the ProV1 litigation in an effort to refresh my memory regarding the case I stumbled upon a prediction that I made in a prior post. I gave my prediction regarding the likelihood of an injunction and stated….. Looks like it is time to buy stock in Callaway! Fortunately, I like their golf balls…..

Read more

Callaway and Acushnet Settle!

OK, the title may be a little misleading. Callaway and Acushnet did settle a patent infringement lawsuit, just not the lawsuit that has garnered so much recent publicity. Regular readers of the Golf-Patents blog will recall that Callaway and Acushnet (parent company of Titleist and Cobra) have been fighting it out over more than just the ProV1’s. A golf club patent dispute between the two has been the ugly step-child of the more glamorous, and widely reported, golf ball patent lawsuit. In fact, I did not see any press releases or reports on the fact that the golf club patent infringement lawsuit was settled about a week ago….. If you need a refresher on the driver lawsuit
….. Thus, this driver infringement lawsuit stretched for almost a year and a half and basically included virtually every driver that Acushnet and Callaway have recently launched. So, needless to say, there was some money at stake (but probably not as much as their golf ball dispute). As with most litigation, there was plenty of money invested in discovery and depositions (see this post); not to mention the money spent by the USGA responding to a subpoena served on them by Acushnet (see this post). Well, it is finally over and we will most likely never know what brought it to a resolution, or if any money changed hands. Bummer, but at least it is over. Click HERE to read the boilerplate Stipulated Order of Dismissal….

Read more

The ProV1 Litigation Update: Get Them While You Can…. Permanent Injunction Granted and No ProV1’s Beyond 2008!

Delaware District Court Judge The Honorable Sue L. Robinson has been busy. Yesterday the Court issued several Orders that may influence your golf ball purchases over the next few weeks! Unfortunately I am tied up with prior commitments today and cannot summarize the documents for you (and no, my prior commitments do not involve purchasing every ProV1 that I can find in hopes of selling them for a nice premium, although that might not be a bad idea). Fortunately, I know that the readers of the Golf-Patents blog are smart and will enjoy reading the Court’s Memos free of my commentary. After all, the Orders and Memos do contain excellent summaries of the case and issues. Below are links to the actual Court documents…..

Read more

The Next Hot Putter on Tour? Get a Grip!

One of the things that makes golfers so interesting is that we are always looking for that one easy fix to gain 5 more yards, hit one more fairway, save one putt per round, and on, and on,…. I am guilty of it. It is the same mentality of many investors that always believe there is one hot stock tip out there that will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. Unfortunately, I am also guilty of this. Now, sure I am smart enough to realize that there is no magic piece of equipment that is going to fix my game, but you know what – it is fun looking for it that magic bullet and trying different pieces of equipment…. Boy, that grip and those figures remind me why I don’t allow comments to be left on this blog…. they are just too ripe for a lot of easy jokes!…..

Read more
Advertisment ad adsense adlogger