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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.
Did you read the article? It will never be known if Acushnet's patents are being violated, because they can use their legal might to force everyone else out of the golf ball business under threat of being forced out of business entirely.
Acushnet doesn't own 11 golf ball patents, it owns the high-end golf ball business. The free market can't solve this, because patents have eliminated the free market for golf balls. And that's why we can't have nice things for cheap.
This won't be like before, when the manufacturer sent threatening letters and forced smaller manufacturers to either go to court of get out of the business entirely. Costco is suing, and now Acushnet Holdings has to either prove their claims or fold. Same as IBM and Novell when SCO made similar bad noises about patent infringement, the big boys can't afford to let someone slander them.
Any bets that another patent troll is going to get a kick in the balls?
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Very nice find. So Acushnet made some threatening accusations, and now Costco is taking them to court, asking for a declaratory judgement.
They want to stop Acushnet to make any accusations of patent infringement, because (a) in all 11 cases the Costco balls are not made in the way that the patent claims, and (b) in all 11 cases the Acushnet patent is invalid because of prior art. For example, one patent claim is for balls "where dimples cover more than 80% of the surface", and Costco says with their balls, dimples _don't_ cover that much surface.
Acushnet also accuses Costco of "false advertising" because they are saying "their products are as good or better than top brands". And there Costco's argument is that (a) they never directly compared to Acushnet, and (b) reviewers and players have repeatedly said that their golf balls are at least as good as Acushnet.
I think someone at Acushnet is in trouble now for sending threatening letters.
I'm a decent golfer, about a 9 handicap, and I can tell you that for an amateur like me the newer golf balls make a significant difference. I probably can't tell the difference between a Titleist Pro V1 and a Kirkland Signature but I can most definitely tell a difference between a 2017 ball and one from 1997.