Following up on my prior post regarding the leaders in the golf club patenting race, this post looks at those competing in the golf ball patenting race.

The numbers don't lie.

Acushnet
   88 golf ball related utility patents in 2006

Bridgestone
   44 golf ball related utility patents in 2006

Callaway Golf
   32 golf ball related utility patents in 2006

Wilson
   2 golf ball related utility patent in 2006 

Taylor Made
   1 golf ball related utility patent in 2006 

Nike
   0 golf ball related utility patents in 2006

Who do you think is planning to dominate the golf ball industry?

David Dawsey – The Golfing Patent Lawyer

PS - The number of issued patents does not tell the complete story for the relative newcomers to the ball industry (particularly Nike). A future post will level the playing field by comparing the number of patent applications that published in 2006.

PPS - These are informal statistics compiled quickly by me... no help from the manfacturers... estimated error of less than 5%