Categories: Media Moves

Coverage: Costco and Titleist fight over golf ball patents

Warehouse retailer Costco and golf equipment manufacturer Titleist are headed to court after Costco sued Titleist’s parent company Acushnet Holdings to thwart claims that Titleist has made that the company is infringing on its golf ball patents.

Chris Morran of Consumerist had the news:

So Costco, in an effort to forestall a lengthy patent lawsuit, have preemptively asked a federal court to rule that it is not infringing on Titleist’s patents, and that Costco’s advertising isn’t deceptive.
This is all according to a complaint filed in federal court last week by Costco.
Following the 2016 launch of Costco’s Kirkland Signature golf balls, Titleist’s parent company, Acushnet Holdings, sent what is described in the complaint as a “threatening” letter. Acushnet alleged in this letter that Costco’s golf balls violated 11 different patents held by Achushnet, like this one for Golf Balls Comprising Highly-Neutralized Acid Polymers, this one for a Multi-Layer Golf Ball Having Velocity Gradient From Slower Center To Faster Cover, and this one for a specific Golf Ball Dimple Pattern.
The complaint briefly notes reasons for why it believes each of the patents fails to apply. For example, with regard to the dimple pattern allegation, Costco claims that its dimples cover less than 80% of the ball’s surface, which it contends is enough of a difference to negate the Titleist claim.

E. Michael Johnson and Mike Stachura of GolfDigest.com note that the Kirkland Signature ball has caused upheaval in the market:

Costco caused a stir in golf retail circles last year with its Kirkland Signature ball, a four-piece, urethane-cover product similar in construction to many tour-caliber balls. The price, however, was the eye opener as the ball sold for $15 a dozen. Media coverage and a cult-like buzz around the ball ensued but was dampened when Costco could not keep up with demand and ran out of the product. Although there was some talk that the Kirkland Signature ball would not return, Costco officials have told Golf Digest that the ball would be back in stores this spring.
As for Acushnet, the company is no stranger to legal issues regarding golf ball patents. Although most suits rarely get to court, the company did have a lengthy legal battle with Callaway that began in 2007 and took years before it was finally settled. More recently in early 2015, Acushnet filed suit against several smaller ball companies, citing patent infringement as well. As a result of that suit, several of the companies either stopped making product or went out of business.
An Acushnet spokesman replied to a request for comment by stating in an email, “As is the case with all matters of litigation, we will have no comment.” At the time of this post, Costco had not yet responded to a request for comment. Stay tuned.

The improbable popularity of a new golf ball sold by Costco Wholesale Corp. has sparked a legal battle between the company and Titleist, the manufacturer of golf’s top-selling ball.
In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Costco (COST) asks for a declaratory judgment against Acushnet Holdings Corp., which owns Titleist, related to Costco’s sale of the ball under its Kirkland Signature brand.
Costco is asking the court to rule that the ball doesn’t infringe on any valid patent rights owned by Acushnet and that it hasn’t engaged in any false advertising in reference to the ball.
In the complaint, Costco says that the suit is necessary because Acushnet has accused it of patent infringement and false advertising.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.