IP & Art

A golf ball has a small and simple shape at first glance, but a surprisingly large amount of intellectual property is concentrated in it. The proportion of balls in the golf equipment sector is higher than expected, accounting for almost 25% of the total market. It was reported that weekend golfers might lose at a rate of 4.5 per round, so it is the ball that is lost on golf courses annually in the United States alone, with more than 500 million balls. Looking at the demand for golf balls, we can feel the need to pay attention to related intellectual property.

According to the rules of golf, golf balls must weigh no more than 1.620 ounces (45.93 g) and must be at least 1.680 inches (42.67 mm) in diameter. Historically, golf balls were originally made from cut wood, but later developed into a leather pouch filled with goose hair or made from rubber tree sap. In 1905,  Wallian Taylor of England finally made a golf ball like the present one with small grooves (dimples) on the surface.

What is interesting is that after it was accidentally discovered that a ball with a scratch on the surface flew farther and created a dimple. While a smooth ball receives air resistance head-on, in the case of a ball with a dimple, the air below it is slow and the air above it is fast, creating a lift force that lifts the ball up. This allows the golf ball to stay in the air for a long time, which naturally increases the distance. Afterwards, the dimple is transformed from the original circle to a hexagon. This is to minimize the air resistance by eliminating the scrap space between the dimples.

The golf ball contains the aspirations of golfers, such as controlling not only the distance but also the spin to easily stop on the green and roll without shaking when putting. Accordingly, it is said that there are more than 1,500 patents related to golf balls.

Various patent technologies such as core (core), cover, manufacturing method, design, paint and coating are hidden in golf balls. Oddly enough, some argue that the cause of Tiger Woods' world No. 1 record for the past 633 weeks would be the golf ball. This is because, unlike most players who used a round ball made by winding rubber thread at the time, Woods was the first to use the multi-layered solid ball with a urethane cover, which is now generalized.

With the development of technology, patent infringement disputes related to golf balls have also increased significantly. The most famous case in history is the patent infringement dispute between Callaway and Titleist. In 2006, Callaway filed a sales ban against Titleist, the world's number one company, for infringing patents on its design and manufacturing method. In response, Titleist acknowledged the patent infringement, but countered that Callaway's patent was invalid because it lacked patent requirements. Although the court initially made a provisional ban on the sale, the lower court later accepted Titleist's argument. Callaway filed an appeal, making the dispute more complicated. Afterwards, the two companies reached a mutual reconciliation to finally end the six-year exhaustive patent infringement dispute. Details of the settlement were not disclosed, but they basically agreed to produce without any restrictions as before. Anyway, this case reminded us once again of the importance of intellectual property such as patents in the golf industry. As the proportion of the intellectual property industry is growing in the golf and sports industries, it is time to pay a special attention to ip related fields hereon.