The U.S. Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) affirmed Acushnet Co.'s contention that the four patents at the heart of the company's years-long dispute with Callaway Golf are invalid.
Acushnet Company, the Fortunes Brands division that owns the Titleist, Footjoy and Pinnacle brands, requested that the PTO reexamine the four patents in January 2006. Callaway filed a lawsuit in February 2006 asserting that Acushnet's Titleist Pro V1 golf balls infringed certain claims of those patents. In March 2010, a jury in Delaware's U.S. District Court determined that all four patents were invalid as obvious and anticipated.
“Throughout this long-running dispute, first with Spalding and then its successor Callaway, Acushnet has always maintained that these patents are invalid and should never have been issued,” said Joe Nauman, Acushnet Co.'s executive vice president for corporate and legal. “The Board of Patent Appeals' decision is one significant step closer to having that view finally and permanently confirmed by the court system.”
Although appeal opportunities exist for both the Board of Patent Appeals decision and the jury verdict, Acushnet remains confident that all four patents will ultimately be confirmed invalid.
