Golf club maker takes swing at Costco
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Joining the ranks of five-pound mayonnaise jars, couches and gooey chicken melts, golf clubs are the new thing at Costco and not everybody is playing fair, according to a lawsuit filed by equipment manufacturer TaylorMade Golf Co., claiming the wholesale company copied its designs.
Kirkland Signature Players Irons was a much-anticipated addition to the wholesaler’s offerings and the new product line allegedly hit the market out of bounds when TaylorMade discovered that the $499 clubs — which sold out “within hours”— were too similar to its own designs, according to Golf magazine.
TaylorMade, in a lawsuit filed in federal court in California on Wednesday and accessed by the publication, alleges the iron’s design infringes on several patents tied to the company’s popular P790 iron that has a similar hollow-cavity design. Also named in the suit is Southern California Design Company, which designed the Costco versions.
Costco did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
