U.S. Court of Appeals Rules that Neither TaylorMade Nor Cleveland Infringed on Club-Fitting Patent
CARLSBAD, Calif. (Dec 12, 2006) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently entered a final judgment of non-infringement in favor of Taylor Made Golf Company ("Taylor Made")and The Roger Cleveland Golf Company ("Cleveland"), ending a patent infringement suit filed by Henry-Griffitts, Inc. ("Henry-Griffitts") in 2004. In this lawsuit, Henry-Griffitts alleged that club fitting systems used by Taylor Made and Cleveland infringed U.S. Patent No. 4,932,662 (the ‘662 Patent").
Cleveland Golf and Taylor Made chose to vigorously defend this lawsuit, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of California entered a judgment finding no infringement of the ‘662 Patent by either Taylor Made or Cleveland on January 23, 2006. Henry Griffitts appealed the District Court decision, and oral arguments were held at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. on November 6, 2006. The Federal Circuit ruling affirmed the judgment of the District Court, defeating the claims of Henry Griffitts in their entirety, and awarded costs of the appeal to Cleveland Golf and Taylor Made.
Don Reino, general counsel for Cleveland Golf, and Bill Reimus, general counsel for Taylor Made, stated that while Cleveland Golf and Taylor Made respect the intellectual property rights of others, each company would defend against what they believe to be frivolous claims with the same passion their respective companies use in making golf equipment.
About Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. dba TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company
TaylorMade Golf has led the golf industry’s technological evolution since being founded in 1979. adidas Golf footwear and apparel is the choice of hundreds of professional golfers around the world. Consumers can find more information on TaylorMade-adidas Golf at (800) 888-CLUB or www.tmag.com, www.taylormadegolf.com, www.adidasgolf.com or www.maxfli.com.
Contact:
TaylorMade-adidas Golf
John Steinbach
Tel: 760.918.6330
eMail: john.steinbach@tmag.com
