Slashdot Mirror
A Lawsuit Over Costco Golf Balls Shows Why We Can't Have Nice Things For Cheap (qz.com)
Ephrat Livni, writing for Quartz: Unless you're a golfer, you probably don't think about golf balls. But a new US lawsuit about these little-dimpled spheres has an economics lesson for all shoppers, showing why consumers have cause for concern when companies use court for sport. Costco, the wholesale membership club, rocked the golf world in 2016 when it started selling its Kirkland Signature (KS) golf balls at about $15 per dozen, a quarter to a third the price of popular top-ranked balls. Industry insiders called it a "miracle golf ball" for its great performance and low cost, and Costco sold out immediately. It's planning to release more in April. In response to the bargain ball's reception, however, Acushnet -- which makes the popular Titleist balls -- sent the membership club a threatening letter. It accused Costco of infringing on 11 patents and engaging in false advertising for claiming that KS balls meet or exceed the quality standards of leading national brands.
If you read TFA you will see that "why we can't have nice things for cheap" refers to the tactic employed by large companies of threatening legal action against small competitors that those competitors can't afford to defend against, even if they are likely to win. It's a tactic that Acushnet has used before.
They published why they don't infringe.
http://golf-patents.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/20170317-Complaint-Costco-v-Acushnet.pdf
That should give the other side pretty good visability as to what their options are.
Will be interesting to see what they do next.
If Costco did their homework, then maybe the dreaded golf ball triopoly is dad.
Oh, it's sooo exciting just can't wait to see what happens next.