TaylorMade suing Costco over iron technology dispute

[Steve_ Shaffer]

The introduction of Costco’s much-anticipated Kirkland Signature Players Irons was a major step for the wholesaler, which appears intent on expanding its footprint in the golf equipment industry with new products designed to go head-to-head against the biggest brands.

But not all of Costco’s competitors are embracing the $499 offering that sold out within hours of its release last month. TaylorMade, in particular, alleges the iron’s design infringes on several patents tied to the company’s popular P790 iron that has a similar hollow-cavity design.
In response, TaylorMade is taking Costco and Southern California Design Company (SCDC) — the iron’s designer — to court.

In a complaint filed Wednesday in the Southern District Court of California, TaylorMade alleged Costco and SCDC infringed on five separate patents, all of them tied to the multi-material P790 design that TaylorMade says “revolutionized the filled-iron category” in 2017. TaylorMade fills the cavity of these irons with with a polymer named SpeedFoam, as referenced in the complaint.
Costco did not immediately reply to GOLF.com’s request for comment.
Read more:
https://golf.com/gear/taylormade-costco-headed-to-court-iron-technology/

[Rob Marshall]

Taylor had a hollow iron way before the 790's. Can't remember what it was called.

[Ben Sims]

Costco has made a lot of money selling similar products to big brands. My guess is this isn’t their first rodeo in this arena. I’d also venture they have some pretty good intellectual property and patent attorneys.

[David_Tepper]

"Taylor had a hollow iron way before the 790's. Can't remember what it was called."

Yes, there were 2 hollow models introduced in 1991 called ICW (Internal Cavity Weighted). The ICW 5 was marketed to the better player. The ICW 11 was marketed to the rest of us. I still have a set of the ICW 11's in the closet.

The Burner Midsize irons were a foam-filled model introduced in 1993.

https://www.taylormadegolf.com/ironslegacy.html?lang=en_US