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. Then, as discussed in a subsequent post, on July 12, 2007 Acushnet filed their Answer to the Complaint thereby stating (i) that Acushnet does not infringe the Callaway patents and alleging that the Callaway patents are invalid, and (ii) returned the favor and accusing Callaway of infringing two of Acushnet’s patents. Callaway responded at the end of August (post here) stating that they do not infringe the Acushnet patents and allege that the Acushnet patents (7041003 and 6960142) are invalid!

Now, Acushnet has filed their Second Amended Answer (read in entirety HERE) to the Callaway Complaint. As you may recall, the original 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.

The Second Amended Answer adds Callaway’s Hyper X and Hyper X Tour clubs to the list of allegedly infringing products and adds USPN 7140975 to the other two Acushnet patents that they accuse Callaway of infringing. If you like reading about golf club faces having non-concentric zones of differing flexural stiffness, then you will love the ‘975 patent.

This leaves me asking myself..... does Callaway produce any drivers that Acushnet does not allege are infringing one of their patents, and does Acushnet produce any drivers that Callaway does not allege are infringing one of their patents?

David Dawsey  - Monitoring Golf Patent Infringement Litigation

PS – I just noticed that the Callaway website states that they have over 1,100 patents; which they state is more than any of their competitors. Impressive.

PPS – the prior posts concerning the Callaway v. Acushnet golf club lawsuit include:

a) Callaway Sues Acushnet Again… This Time for Infringement of 5 Golf Club Patents  -  here

b) 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  -  here

c) The Ongoing Saga of Callaway and Acushnet… 1st Callaway Sues Alleging Infringement of 5 Patents… Then Acushnet Returns the Favor and Sues Alleging Infringement of 2 Patents and Asserting Invalidity… NOW Today Callaway Responds - here