TaylorMade Golf called a June 19 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a five-year patent infringement case a complete victory.


The appeals court affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment of non-infringement in favor of TaylorMade Golf. The affirmance is the culmination of litigation filed in 2007 by plaintiffs Dogleg Right Partners, LP and Dogleg Right Corporation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. The Federal Circuit summarily affirmed the district court without opinion, resulting in a complete victory for TaylorMade.

The Federal Circuit's affirmance follows almost a year to the day that U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Everingham IV granted defendant TaylorMade Golf's motion for summary judgment of non-infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,004,852, 7,189,169 and 7,344,450, related to movable weights in golf club heads. The court found that the accused r7 and R9 products of TaylorMade do not infringe any of the asserted claims of the patents-in-suit.


“We are pleased that our position has been vindicated by the Federal Circuit's decision,” said Bill Reimus, TaylorMade's SVP and general counsel. “We respect the intellectual property rights of others and we expect that others will respect ours. However, if and when infringement is alleged without basis, we will defend ourselves vigorously, as in the present case.”


Headquartered in Carlsbad, CA, TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company sells golf clubs, balls, clothing and accessories under the TaylorMade, adidas Golf, Adams Golf and Ashworth brands. TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company posted 2011 sales of over EUR 1.0 billion.