On March 29, 2010, a jury in the United States District Court, District Court of Delaware found four of Callaway Golf Company’s patents are invalid, ruling against the company in its patent infringement lawsuit filed against Acushnet that began in 2006.

The four patents-at-issue (US Patent Nos. 6,210,293; 6,503,156; 6,506,130; and 6,595,873) are collectively referred to as the Sullivan patents and relate to a multi-layered golf ball.

Acushnet stipulated that its Titleist Pro V1 golf balls infringed the patents, but that the patents were invalid and unenforceable. A jury deliberated and decided the patents-at-issue aren’t new and are obvious, invalidating the patents.

Callaway filed the patent infringement lawsuit in 2006. The next year, a jury ruled that three of the patents were valid and one was partly valid, a ruling that was overturned in 2009 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit based on inconsistencies in the decision. The latest verdict came after a week-long re-trial in federal court.

SOURCE:

Phil Milford and Jef Feeley, “Callaway loses bid for $246 million patent damages,” Bloomberg Businessweek, March 29, 2010 (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-29/callaway-golf-loses-bid-for-246-million-in-patent-damages.html); Callaway Golf Company v. Acushnet Company, No. 06-091-SLR (D. Del. March 3, 2010) (Memorandum Opinion) (http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17809857168674187563&q=Callaway+Golf+Co.+v.+Acushnet+Co&hl=en&as_sdt=40000000002&as_ylo=2010&as_vis=1).