After more than a year battling in US District Court in Arizona, Parsons Xtreme Golf and TaylorMade Golf have settled a lawsuit which PXG filed before TaylorMade's P790 irons hit the market.
The full terms of the settlement were not released and will remain confidential. However, in a joint release, the companies did announce cross-licensing of patents so each company can make particular club products.
"I’m pleased that we were able to reach an acceptable and amicable resolution to put this case behind us so we can continue focusing on bringing industry leading equipment innovations to the golfer," said TaylorMade Golf CEO David Abeles.
PXG filed suit on Sept. 12, 2017, alleging TaylorMade's P790 irons infringed on eight patents the company had obtained for their hollow-body 0311 irons. PXG's suit sought monetary relief for these alleged infringements, and the company sought a temporary restraining order barring the sale of P790 irons, which was denied.
PXG also sued retailers selling the P790 irons, including Dick's Sporting Goods and Worldwide Golf Shops, looking to prevent them from offering the irons to consumers. The suit against Worldwide Golf Shops was held up in court in December 2017, pursuant to legal precedent that places a suit against a product maker ahead of a customer of said product maker. The suit was settled in October 2018.
TaylorMade countersued PXG, alleging the Arizona-based company had been infringing on their patents for drivers, fairway woods, irons and hybrids.
As recently as October, the lawsuit took a turn toward the Japanese market, looking at potent patent issues against Yamaha irons made in for Japanese golfers.
Legal filings continued through December 2018, with PXG seeking to extend the discovery period for the case to allow for a third-party expert deposition in January 2019. That request was denied on a technical basis by the court, and it was at that point the case went dark.
While it's unclear how each company will benefit from the settlement, PXG CEO Dr. Bob Parsons said he was willing to pursue similar patent litigation in the future, as warranted.
"As a golf equipment innovator, PXG will continue to pursue research and development and obtain patents for our novel club designs in the iron technology space," said Parsons. "We will not hesitate to assert those patents in the future."
