A commonly held belief these days is that golf equipment sales are driven primarily by marketing.
But don’t try telling that to Callaway Golf Co. or TaylorMade Golf Inc.
The industry giants hold fast to the belief that substance trumps marketing, the philosophy that is best exemplified by ongoing patent-related litigation between the two entities and other golf companies.
Callaway Golf, for example, recently lodged a claim in the Eastern District of Texas (Marshall Division), which alleges that TaylorMade markets and sells golf clubs in direct competition with Callaway’s clubs and its patented feature “Golf Club Head with Audible Vibration Attenuation” (U.S. Patent No. 5,704,849). In essence, the feature means that the club head has a structure on the front wall that decreases audible vibration when a golf ball is struck.
“Callaway Golf has been damaged and has suffered irreparable injury due to the acts of infringement by defendant and will continue to suffer irreparable injury unless defendant’s activities are enjoined,” charged Callaway, which is being represented by Wesley Hill of Ireland, Carroll & Kelley of Tyler, TX. Callaway is seeking “reasonable” royalties, interest, treble damages and the impounding or destruction of the infringing material.
TaylorMade has countered that several of Callaway’s current drivers, a key market for each company, were infringing on its company’s patents, which deal with technology that purportedly distributes weight in the club head more effectively to help a golfer hit the ball longer and straighter.
TaylorMade spokesman Scott Leightman told the Los Angeles Times, “We feel good about our case against their allegations. . . . There are two sides to the story.” TaylorMade executives believe “many currently available Callaway drivers infringe on several TaylorMade patents covering industry-leading metal wood technologies,” Leightman said.
