Acushnet Answers Callaway’s Complaint in Golf Club Patent Infringement Case… Acushnet Turns the Tables and Sues Callaway for Infringing 2 of Acushnet’s Golf Club Patents

As you may recall from a prior post, on June 8, 2007 Callaway filed a golf club patent infringement lawsuit alleging that Acushnet has willfully infringed 5 Callaway patents.

On July 12, 2007 Acushnet filed their Answer to the Complaint. Of course the Answer alleges that Acushnet is not infringing the Callaway patents and alleges that the Callaway patents are invalid, BUT interestingly Acushnet returned the favor and accused Callaway of infringing two of Acushnet’s patents.

As you may recall, the Complaint alleges that King Cobra 454 Comp, King Cobra F Speed, King Cobra HS9 F Speed, King Cobra HS9 M Speed, King Cobra LD F Speed, Titleist 905R, Titleist 905S, and Titleist 905T clubs infringe one, or more, of the Callaway patents.

The Answer alleges that the Callaway FT-i, FT-5, X-460, X-460 Tour, Big Bertha Fusion FT-3, and Big Bertha 460 clubs infringe one, or more, of the Acushnet patents.

Acushnet alleges that Callaway infringes USPN 7041003 and USPN 6960142.

The Callaway patents that are allegedly infringed include USPN 6348015, USPN 6478692, USPN 6669579, USPN 6685576, and USPN 6949032. All five of the patents are titled “Golf Club Head Having a Striking Face with Improved Impact Efficiency.” Majority of the claims of these patents are directed to the natural frequency of the club head’s striking face.

Anytime a party brings a patent infringement lawsuit they face the risk that the Defendant turns around and sues the Plaintiff for patent infringement (just one of the dangers of suing competitors with large patent portfolios). This illustrates the value of having a defensive patent portfolio. In others words, many companies amass a large patent portfolio so that if they are sued for infringement that they can turn around and sue the Plaintiff with the hope that the case can be settled via a cross-licensing agreement without any money changes hands (with both parties still having a leg up on the competition).

Think there is a fair amount of money at risk in this lawsuit?

David Dawsey – Monitoring Golf Club Patent Infringement Litigation

PS – There is no love lost between these two golf industry giants… just see my prior post regarding their pending golf ball patent infringement lawsuit.