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Pro V1 Court Case Update

golf_junkie27
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golf_junkie27 Great Member

golf_junkie27

See below:

Callaway Golf Wins Post Trial Motions in Lawsuit Against Acushnet
Federal Court Enjoins Sales of Pro V1 Effective January 1, 2009
CARLSBAD, Calif., Nov 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) today announced that the United States District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, has granted Callaway Golf's request for a permanent injunction to stop sales of Acushnet's current line of Titleist Pro V1 family of golf balls, effective no later than January 1, 2009. At Callaway Golf's request, professional golfers will be allowed to play Pro V1 golf balls through the end of this calendar year.

In its ruling today, the Court also rejected Acushnet's request to overturn the jury's December 2007 verdict which found that Callaway Golf's golf ball patents were valid and infringed by Acushnet's Titleist Pro V1 family of golf balls.

"Callaway Golf has invested millions of dollars in Research and Development to create innovative products for millions of golfers around the world, and has protected those products with one of the broadest patent portfolios in golf," said Steve McCracken, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, Callaway Golf. "We are very pleased with today's decision which will stop the sale of these infringing Pro V1 golf balls."


What ball will you play? Is this the final step in the process?

Titleist 905T Accra SC75 M4 Shaft

Nike SQ 4W Accra T70 M4 Shaft
HB001 17* Hybrid with Mitsubishi Diamana Thump X Stiff Flex
Baffler Pro 20* Accra Axiv 105 Tour Hybrid Shaft

Taylor Made 24* Burner Accra Axiv 105 Tour Hybrid Shaft

Mizuno MP-32 5-PW Black Oxide Finish Project X 6.0 Shafts

Vokey 52* Oil Can Finish TTDG S400 Shaft

Cleveland 588 60* TTDG S400 Shaft

Rife Bimini Blade Putter

 

Ball-White and Round

 

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bruce Dedicated Member

bruce

Callaways i will play.

aeroburner tp 10.5 stiff
superfast tp 2.0 3 wood stiff
Halo 25 and taylormade tp 19 degree hybrids
miura cb 202 and wedge
tp 52* wedge, tp 56* taylormade spider mallet putter

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firstcut Well Established Member

firstcut

Callaway are the ones that asked for the extension. Although it is interesting that this article specifies "professionals". I'm sure they will simply license some kind of rights to Titleist. It's pretty much like printing money for them if they can come to terms..
Drivers:
FT-i Draw 9* W/Grafalloy Red
Sumo2 5900 9.5* W/Grafalloy Red

Irons: A3OS 3-PW Graphite/Steel regularWedges: A3OS GW, SW, LWPutter: Rossa Monza SpiderLittle round white thing:
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gogolfing Great Member

gogolfing

Here is a good article from Golf Week magazine that explains some things in detail.

http://www.golfweek.com/story/prov1-...on-news-111108

Ping G 410 10.5 ˚ Driver Ping Tour Stiff Shaft
Ping G 410 14.5˚ 3 Ping Tour Stiff Shaft
Ping G 410 19˚ Ping Tour Stiff Shaft
i 500 irons 4-UW 1/2 inch over, blue dot, NS Pro Modus 105 Stiff Shafts
Ping Stealth Wedges Wedges  54˚ 58˚

Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 34" 

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Armonster20 Member

Armonster20

I don't think you ProV1 guys have anything to worry about.

(1) they've changed their balls to no longer infringe the patent
(2) they are appealing
(3) even if they lose, they would surely just license the rights from Callaway

Insight XTD a3 Driver
a3 Hybrids/Irons (3-GW)
SM Vokey 58*
Black Series Putter

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Trav Well Established Member

Trav

(3) even if they lose, they would surely just license the rights from Callaway

Yes, this is the normal outcome, assuming the current balls still infringe. Courts won't permanently enjoin the manufacture, just require royalties. Remember the Blackberry litigation?

Might result in higher (!) ProV prices.
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retozimmermann Member

retozimmermann

Does anyone know which of Callaway's patents is affected here? Which of their balls have the features used in the Titleists?
Driver: Mizuno MX-500
Hybrid: Cleveland HiBore 23°
Irons: Mizuno MX-25 4-P, MP-60 2-Iron
Wedges: Mizuno MX 51°, MX 56°
Putter: Mizuno Bettinardi BC1Putter: Mizuno Tour 940
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misty_mountainhop Great Member

misty_mountainhop

I though tit was Bridgestone who had the lawsuit against them? or is that something completly different?

I thought Bridgestone were after them too.

I've looked for replacement of ProV1 already. I am about to choose from:

TP Black of those three. Gamer is decent for the money but you won't get anywhere near the spin of a V1 with the E6+; try the E5+ instead although it has a bit harder feel than the V1.

Home Course: Wollaton Park GC, Nottingham, U.K.

Ping G400, 9°, Alta CB 55S | Ping G400, 14°, Alta CB 65S | Adams Pro Dhy 18°, 21°, 24°, KBS Hybrid S | Ping S55 5-PW, TT DGS300 | Vokey 252-08, DGS200 | Vokey 256-10 (bent to 58°), DGS200 | Ping Sigma G Anser, 34" | Vice Pro Plus

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Zakko Established Member

Zakko

I'd get some strokes back from my buddies. I'm too cheap to buy em.

Driver: Sumo2 5900 10.5*
3+ Utility: 3DX Utility 13.5*
Hybrids: 4DX 18.5*
Irons: MP-30 3-PW
Wedges: Vokey SM54.10 & SM60.04Putter: T.P. Mills StudioBall: GamerBag: Warbird Stand

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Snake Well Established Member

Snake

I've looked for replacement of ProV1 already. I am about to choose from:

Those are all good, but they are mid-level balls. That's what I usually play - e6+, NXT, Srixon Trispeed, etc. Callaway Tour i, Bridgestone B330, Nike One Platinum, TaylorMade Tour and Srixon Z-URs are probably the closest equivalents to Pro V1s - all top tier balls.

In myBagBoy Revolver: HiBore XL 10.5° ⢠HiBore 3W ⢠Halo 2i, 3i & 4i
MX900 5-PW ⢠MP-R 52-07° & 58-10° ⢠Studio Select Squareback 1

Carl Spackler: This is a hybrid. This is a cross of Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California Sensemilia. The amazing stuff...

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duffer888 Member

duffer888

I thought Bridgestone were after them too.

Note the TP Black will feel harder, more like the V1x.

I would guess the e5+ would be more to your liking for the softness and spin. Or NOS Precept U-Tri-Tours, if you can still find them.

R9 SuperTri 10.5*
Exotics XCG-3 4W 16.5*
Idea Pro 18* and/or 20*
i15
X-Tour 54/60PM Trinidad TP Black LDPAll in a SCB and MicroCart

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Henry Established Member

Henry

I would love it if ProV1s go extinct becuaseit would mean that my friend who plays them would have some money left to buy drinks

In my ozone bag:

905r 10.5 Graphite Design YS-6+ R
909 F2 15.5 Aldila VooDoo Fairway S
Benross VeloCT Resuce 21 Grafalloy ProLaunch Platinum R MX300s 4-PW KBS Tour S MP-T10 50/8 Chrome 54/11 and 60/7 Studio Select Newport II 35"

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  • Administrator
iacas Hall of Fame Member

iacas

  • Administrator

The title of the thread is disingenuous. The course case isn't "settled" and nobody will have to go without a Pro V1 (if they don't want to) at all.

http://thesandtrap.com/balls/callawa...attle_round_38
In its ruling today, the Court also rejected Acushnet's request to overturn the jury's December 2007 verdict which found that Callaway Golf's golf ball patents were valid and infringed by Acushnet's Titleist Pro V1 family of golf balls.

Those patents that the court determined were valid were, a few weeks ago,

declared invalid by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. I don't quite understand how that works - how a court can rule one way when the US P TO (the "experts" in such a thing) ruled another - but that's where we are. Suffice to say:
  • Pro V1s will still be available. They're being made differently now - a change Titleist has likely been planning to make for some time now.
  • New Pro V1/V1x models will be available in the spring. That wasn't hard to guess - we got new models roughly every two years, the last in 2007.
  • The patents are invalid at this point, so in my non-lawyer opinion, Titleist has a good chance to "win" yet.
There's a lot more to this than you might understand if you just read a press release from Callaway.
(1) they've changed their balls to no longer infringe the patent

They don't need to license the rights going forward for the reason (1) you've listed above, and they may not have to license the rights retroactively (i.e. pay a fine) because of the invalid patents.

This thing is a long ways (unfortunately) from being over.

Erik J. Barzeski — ⛳ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • Author, Lowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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Note: This thread is 5631 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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