WILMINGTON, Del. – Fairhaven-based Acushnet Co., the golf-products division of Fortune Brands Inc. (NYSE: FO), today announced it has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Carlsbad, Calif.-based rival Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) as part of “a series of actions to protect the intellectual property related to its golf-ball products.”
In its complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, the Fairhaven company asserted that Callaway’s Tour i and Tour ix golf balls infringe nine of Acushnet’s U.S. patents covering multi-piece, solid-core technology. Acushnet holds more than 650 active golf-ball patents, more than any other manufacturer, about 10 percent of which are for its Titleist Pro V1 product family.
“As the industry leader, we respect the valid intellectual property of others and expect others to respect ours,” said Joe Nauman, Acushnet’s executive vice president, corporate and legal.
“We believe that disagreements like these are best dealt with between the companies involved and we have repeatedly attempted to resolve these disputes,” he continued. “When these discussions failed, Callaway left us with no other course of action but to move forward with this lawsuit.”
Meanwhile, the company said it will continue to “vigorously defend against assertions by Callaway that [Acushnet’s] 2009 Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls infringe Callaway’s patent rights.”
Acushnet described the rival company’s claims as “without merit.” It noted that – although a mixed ruling in the dispute in December 2007 spurred an Acushnet recall late last year of the previous version of Pro V1 golf balls (READ MORE) – the company’s new Pro V1 models were designed to be outside the claims of all Callaway patents, including those it contends are not valid.
In a separate filing today with the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Acushnet said it “asked the court to rule that the patents asserted by Callaway are not infringed and are invalid.” The company also is in the process of filing a request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, asking it to re-examine those and other Callaway patents.
Acushnet continues to appeal, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a December 2007 jury decision that its old version of Pro V1 multilayer golf balls did infringe some Callaway patents. (READ MORE)
“While all litigation is uncertain, we remain confident that we will prevail,” Nauman said. The lower court’s decision hinged on four Callaway patents that the Patent and Trademark Office since has ruled invalid – rulings that will be considered in the appeal process, the company said.
Callaway Golf has expressed a different view of the proceedings: The California company “believes it is time for Acushnet to accept its losses,” Steve McCracken, Callaway’s senior executive vice president and administrative officer, said in December. (READ MORE) “Three courts have ruled that Acushnet violates Callaway Golf’s patents,” spokesperson Michèle Szynal added at the time.
Wally Uihlein, Acushnet’s chairman and CEO, stressed that “these actions do not impact our customers’ and golfers’ ability to purchase and play our new Pro V1 golf balls. We remain committed to providing golfers with the highest quality, best performing golf balls, and to ensuring that the choice of what ball to play remains with the golfer,” he said.
Acushnet Co. – a maker of golf equipment and apparel under brands including Titleist, Cobra, FootJoy and Pinnacle – is a unit of Deerfield, Ill.-based consumer brands company Fortune Brands Inc. (NYSE: FO), whose businesses also include manufacturers and marketers of distilled spirits and home and hardware products. For more information, go to www.FortuneBrands.com or www.AcushnetCompany.com.
For information about Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY), a golf-products manufacturer known for its golf balls and its Big Bertha line of clubs, go to www.CallawayGolf.com.
Information about the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and its decisions is available at www.ded.uscourts.gov.
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