It Was Only a Matter of Time; Acushnet, Bridgestone, and Callaway Hit with False Patent Marking Lawsuits Related to Golf Ball Patents

I suspect the in-house attorneys at the big golf companies have just been waiting to be named in a false patent marking lawsuit. Recently false patent marking lawsuits have become quite the rage based upon a plaintiff’s hopes of a major payday due to the quantity of products sold containing false patent markings. The typical situation is that a plaintiff identifies products that sell huge quantities of products and then digs around until they identify some products that list patents that are either expired or don’t actually cover the product. Since boatloads of golf balls are sold, I knew that the manufacturers would eventually become the target of the false patent marking plaintiffs. In this situation the plaintiff is Texas Data Co., L.L.C., which is likely a shell company established solely for the purpose of bringing these lawsuits. So, what’s behind these lawsuits? I will let the plaintiff explain….. Ahh, aren’t we lucky to have such guardians of the public interest!…..

Read more

I thought it was a Cool New Nike Putter, Turns Out it is a Driver or Wood

Nike R&D must be a pretty cool place to work because it doesn’t look like they rule out any club head designs as being too radical. In fact, just check out a few recent posts on some of their interesting designs (HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE). Well, this week I opened up a Nike patent application that had just published and thought “interesting putter.” A few seconds later I realized that the application is not directed to a putter, but rather a driver or fairway wood. Now they had my attention! The patent application published as US Pub. No. 20100184532 titled “Golf Club Assembly and Golf Club Head with Bar and Weighted Member.” Check out this design!….. I just wish some of these radical designs would make it to the market so we could see if they would sell. So, are you more like to game this Nike V-shaped golf club head or Callaway’s C-shaped golf club head?…..

Read more

So What’s the Deal with Tiger’s New Putter; Whoops, I Mean His Old Putter

Ugh, I am so sick of hearing about Tiger’s new Nike putter, which seems to now be his old putter, and I am a guy that likes hearing the announcers talk about the equipment being used (and I actually do like the putter). Despite my disgust, I bet the Nike Golf website’s traffic blew-up this weekend and I am sure sales spiked. So what do I do…. talk more about it of course by looking into the intellectual property aspects of this putter design. Well, there is no doubt that Nike values the intellectual property concerning the design because they have invested some change in protecting the design. So far they have no less than 2 issued utility patents directed to aspects of the face (USPN 7717801 & 7713139), at least one design patent on the face design (USPN D605242), and at least six pending utility patent applications, which is not unheard of for a popular putter….. Cool stuff, but I think it is time for the media to put a fork in it; after all, how much free exposure can one product get. Sure makes you appreciate the value of an endorsement from Tiger, even if he eventually switched back to his old putter….

Read more

Are Fluid Filled Irons on the Horizon?

Almost two and a half years ago I posted about a Nike patent application directed to an iron design having a fluid-filled bladder. Well, the application made its way through the patent office and issued last week as USPN 7749100 titled “Golf Clubs and Golf Club Heads Having Fluid-Filled Bladders and/or Interior Chambers.” The fact that Nike saw the application all the way through the patent application prosecution process and paid to have the patent issue makes me wonder if we will actually see a commercial product with a fluid-filled bladder. Wouldn’t that be interesting!….

Read more

Callaway’s Final Bite at the Apple Regarding the Request for a Mulligan in the ProV1 Infringement Litigation

This post is following up on yesterday’s post titled “Acushnet Responds to Callaway’s Request for a New Trial ” (which was following up on the original post titled “Callaway’s Request for a Mulligan Regarding the ProV1 Litigation ”) and details the Callaway “Reply in Support of its Motion for a New Trial and Judgment as a Matter of Law” (click HERE to read the entire PDF). I have reproduced some of the high points of the Callaway “reply” below for your reading enjoyment….. Are you confused enough yet? I think I sense a little bad blood between these two!….

Read more

Acushnet Responds to Callaway’s Request for a New Trial in the ProV1 Patent Litigation

Recall the post from a couple of months ago titled “Callaway’s Request for a Mulligan Regarding the ProV1 Litigation ?” Well, Acushnet has filed their response explaining why they believe that Callaway is not entitled to a new trial (click HERE to read the entire response). Yes, a lot of the response is purely legal argument, but I have included some of the more interesting information below (including a nice summary of the case)…. Looks like neither side has given up on this case just yet!….

Read more

After 8.5 Years Izzo Collects from King Par

A few weeks ago I received notice of a $3.2 million verdict awarded to Izzo against King Par (see verdict sheet HERE), and Izzo has asked the court to award over $400k in attorneys fees and expenses. I could not recall the case so I was in no hurry to research it. Turns out the lawsuit did not ring a bell because it was filed 8.5 years ago!….. There you have it; this case should give every aspiring golf inventor hope that a good invention can lead to quite a business…..

Read more

Is Their One Best Method of Achieving the Optimal Golf Stance? An Australian Inventor Thinks So and Has Patented It

Would you be surprised to learn that a method of setting up to the ball can be patented? Well one Australian inventor had his eye on the ball and patented his method of achieving his idea of the “optimal golf stance.” The patent issued this week as USPN 7,744,481 titled “Method for Achieving an Optimal Golf Stance,” which explains…. So, you may be unknowingly infringing this guy’s patent just in the way you address the golf ball! I can just imagine him studying hours of tournament footage to see if he can catch any of the professionals using his method to produce their stance…..

Read more
Advertisment ad adsense adlogger