TaylorMade Are SUING Costco (KIRKLAND)... This Could BACKFIRE QUICK!
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- TaylorMade Are SUEING Costco... Could This BACKFIRE QUICKLY!? Are TaylorMade Making A HUGE MISTAKE SUEING Costco!? With the rise of the Taylormade P790 as one of the best forgiving golf clubs ever released we have seen many different clubs brought out to rival them such as the Cobra forged tech irons, the ping i525 irons and even the costco Kirkland signature irons... however. The latter of these clubs have come under fire from taylormade claiming false advertising and taylormade have since filed a lawsuit against costco... this isn't the first time costco have been countersued by a golf cooperation as titleist sued them back in 2017 around the costco Kirkland signature golf ball. is this going to backfire on taylormade as its got the entire world talking about the costco irons and the value they potentially hold.
full article here from Jonathan Wall - golf.com/gear/... 
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Big brands selling overhyped and overpriced irons are getting found out, you’re paying £300 to £500 (or more) just to get a logo. They’ve been ripping us off for years. If every driver every year gives you 5 yards more, then over 20 years, that’s 100 yards more than 20 years ago. Does that actually happen? Nope.
I always thought a good advertisement tagline would be : "Buy a Scotty Cameron Newport Two today, Its the ANSER you've been looking for"
Imagine being one of the biggest brands in golf and feeling threatened by a supermarket making golf clubs, threatened so much u feel the need to sue them, crazy.
It’s called trademark infringement! TM believes someone gave them their proprietary tech, which is illegal! If true say good bye to Costco clubs. I’m sure the driver will be next!
@@DMKFACTORKirkland clubs aren’t going anywhere 😂
@@zekebones34 Okay, so laws don’t exist in your fantasy land! How’s the weather in fantasy land today 💩4️⃣🧠? 🤣🤣🤣💀🤡
Titleist sued them over the 4 piece ball. Costco could easily make a dent in their sales. It’s not some small supermarket.
@@BearsBetterHaveMyHoney And now they don’t sell 4 piece golf balls anymore, case president is already established which is all a US court will look at. Say bye bye to Costco clubs. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Titeliest look at those wedges again and possibly going after those too. They similarly to Vokeys are undeniable! Can’t rip off other peoples patents in the US, there are trademark laws here that prevent that and protect the company’s that produce these original ideas.
I'm not sure how TM can sue Costco without going after the likes of Takomo, Caley, Sub 70, and more. I feel like I have seen 6+ companies offering an almost identical hollow body iron head, and they all seem to be attempting to compete with the P790.
I agree. I think TM is just going after the largest bank account.
@timo31zz For sure!
I was thinking this as well. What's to stop other big brands from doing the same?
Not to mention TM kinda stole their design from PXG haha
Because Takomo, Sub70, Calley don’t have enough money for it to be worth while for TM to sue them.
98% of people buying kirkland clubs are probably not willing to spend 4x more on Taylormades, so i don't see TM losing customers to costco.
There are a dozen other hollow body irons that look like p790s. I'm curious why tm isn't suing them.
It’s almost like Costco has deep pockets and makes a better target for a potential payoff
TM can only prevail if the other clubs are 1:1 copies. Clearly, Costco clubs are different in detail.
It's funny to hear about this lawsuit. In 2018 pxg was suing taylormade for p790. One giant circle
Exactly!!!
And settled out of court. Funny thing this year - I had P790s in my bag and switched into, uh, Gen 6 P irons ;->
You probably don't remember but Wilson made the first irons with a speed slot in the early 1980s, TM didn't have any problems copying that "homework" Also Slazenger also made a gel filled cavity back also in the early 1980s
Taylormade bought that speed slot when they bought Adam’s
@@geoffgray1166 I stand corrected, it was Wilson Reflex irons released in 1979, I thought it was the 1980s, my mistake about the year
@@geoffgray1166Adams was suing them thats why they bought them I'm sure
@@dereckguilfoyle1219 was that the seve ballesteros slazenger clubs
@@adampark4238 Jack Nicklaus VIP Slazenger, The irons had a red gel in the back, I think they are very rare these days, I could only find one picture of them on an old advertising promo
You could put 10 different makes of irons together and all have a similar look and feel. If Taylormade didn’t price themselves so high then people would choose the better club and not the cheaper but similar club
Yeah, I don't get it. There's only so many ways you can make a Blade iron look.
Ok, let’s all remember that TaylorMade was sued by PXG because they were accused of copying the PXG hollow bodied iron platform when putting out the 790. I actually played the TaylorMade ICW which came out in the 90’s so ultimately the history counts, TM had some expired patents on hollow clubs. But this is certainly the pot calling the kettle black, TM saw the success of what PXG (they invented the modern filled club head) and TM jumped on that train.
This is the irony not enough people are talking about. The only thing I wonder here is if it is a similar issue to Titleist where Kirkland has gone to a taylormade supplier may be using and had them make a similar version. The old Titleist suit was Kirkland using potentially old prov1 blanks to make their ball.
The amount of different copies of the Ping Anser putter!
I agree including Taylormade
I agree but the difference is that the patent on the Anser design expired some time around 1984.
@@TrixieTopper indeed.
Just goes to show probably made in the same factory we're just paying too much for clubs golf equipment is a rip off
I used to run a bicycle business and we imported bicycle frames and parts and almost all the high end bicycle brands that people thought wrre made in the USA were made in Taiwan and China and just assembled or finished in the uk.
The frames were listed in the Tiawan bicycle catalogue.
Yes. The top clubs are absolutely far too expensive. You could cut the msrp in half and the companies would still at least double their money. The reason they charge soo much is they can get away with it and they sponsor golfers with massive deals so that money needs to come from somewhere
Thing is though, R&D takes time and money. Not saying clubs aren’t too expensive, but if Taylormade takes on all the R&D and someone else copies their product, then of course their clubs will be way cheaper.
@@MrPorko2ccmon man, there’s almost nothing you can do more to these golf clubs to improve their performance and it’s been that way for a long time. Do you think Rory would all of a sudden lose strokes if he went back to SIM? Absolutely not. There’s no absurdly high R&D costs anymore. Only designing costs.
@@MrPorko2cit’s gotten to a point where consumers subconsciously relate price to quality and the manufacturers are merely using that to their advantage. If TM offered a $150 driver today and people with budget constraints bought it, i bet those same people would still have that deep desire to upgrade to $600 Qi10 if they could.
Think TM will have a hard time proving it. Many club makers have similar design s.
This! 👆
Not to mention Costco is worth way more than Taylormade and could probably drag this out.
They look like any hollow body players distance iron, the Cobra Forged Tec the Ping I59 ect. All Taylormade is doing is hilighting these irons, If I was Kirkland I'd send a thank you to Taylormade for the free press.
These companies keep robbing the golf industry. If Costco can make good clubs foe their price so can Taylormade or any other company out there. These big companies have priced themselves out of the market for the average golfer. That's my take on it. I use a set of Dunlop irons that I purchased when I started playing 30 years ago. The reason i still play these is i really cant afford higher priced clubs. I love the game and it is my relaxing time not mustration time
Thank you and you channel for what you do and share with us. Until the next video.
I hope Taylormade loses a ton of money on attorney fees and loses the case. Big brands are too expensive now and they are going to go up unless we stop them and quit paying stupid money for gear
Are they realising they are basically saying Costco sells p790 for half the price?!
These big brands just mad Kirkland is making AFFORDABLE and similar clubs for the average person to pick up and enjoy golf. Nobody wants to pay 1500-1800$ for some damn golf clubs lol. Keep on the pressure Costco/Kirkland
Very interesting James. I have thought for some time that some direct to consumer clubs are very similar to some of the big brands but at what point does similar become copying?
Also someone told me a few years ago that the speed slot was an invention of Adams Golf and that Taylormade copied it and when threatened with a lawsuit bought Adams out. If that is true it makes Taylormade somewhat hypocritical.
I am a great fan of Taylormade products but the prices over the years have have risen to the point that I can't afford to upgrade so if there is something cheaper but similar I would certainly be tempted.
How different can irons look in reality? They're all a grooved plate on a stick. The angled cutoff is at opposite ends of the head for starters.
Especially Blades. You would think that TM used way more technology and engineering to produce a better club, no matter how it looks.
Same with car tires, rifle scopes/red dots, toasters, stereo speakers, golf grips, TV 's, guitars, Outdoor grills, and the list goes on
Wouldn’t TM be focusing on suing the companies making the fake p790’s that you reviewed the other day?
Exactly! A replica trying to imply your buying a genuine TM product is what they should go after...not a club that has some similar design elements but doesn't seem like a club trying to be a copycat
Except those companies are all in China and not subject to our laws. Good luck getting a settlement from them.
Funny, you think your $3000 Taylormades are made in the US😅
@@Smitty-tc4ni but Tm is based in the usa?
Maybe Ping should sue for SC copying the Anser putter,unless it’s a clone its not illegal
Scotty Cameron Putters are made generally of aircraft aluminium, ping are generally not. Some although the design of the heads might be similar the construction isn't. Same for the famous Bullseye putters
@@roberttaylor1801 my point is design unless patented can be inspired by others
They're only suing Costco because they have actually have money. No point in suing the small DTC brands with no money to take.
I would pick the Kirkland over Taylor Made because big names in golf are pricing a lot of every day player out of the game. I have not bot new clubs in 12 or more years, may have to look into the used market.
I was a TaylorMade fan for years, then they started this crap, buying smaller brands, stealing patents off of them and then scrubbing the rest, now a Company trying to help people get into Golf with cheaper stuff, same quality. they sue!! All Kirkland did, use the same Chinese sweatshop, then rebrand them. What TaylorMade could do, drop some prices back down to Earth!
It never goes away and regardless of what you think Costco clearly is violating patent laws..
As much as I enjoy major corps fighting each other. I would absolutely love it if Costco just went full torched earth on taylormade and bought them. "Taylormade by Kirkland" has a nice right to it.
It appears that there are 3 main points that Taylormade are upset about:
1. Taylormade allege that 5 patents they have for the P790 design have been infringed upon in the design of the Kirkland Signature irons,
2. Taylormade allege that the advertising by Kirkland, which closely resembles some advertising for the P790, does not accurately reflect the true construction of the Kirkland Signature Irons - mainly relating to the "injected urethane" - which, in Taylormade's opinion, has the potential to mislead customers,
3. An ex-Taylormade engineer, who worked on the P790, has since been working for SCDC (aka. "Indi Golf") who were responsible for the design and production of the Kirkland Signature Irons
I hope the above helps to explain why other manufacturers / similar products (e.g. Takomo, Sub70, Cobra's Forged Tec, etc) aren't in Taylormade's firing line given they'll likely have their own R&D, differ enough in terms of advertising and won't have an ex-Taylormade employee helping to produce a one-off product similar to the P790.
While I understand that Taylormade want to protect their IP; it does feel like a bit of an own-goal given the assumption of most people will be "Taylormade feel threatened by the Kirkland irons, so they must be good" (which is largely reflected in most of the comments I've read) and will provide the sort of advertising for Costco that money can't really buy. I also 100% agree with those who have pointed out the potential audiences are different (i.e. those who buy £500 Kirkland irons may never have intended on buying £1200 Taylormade irons).
All this will do is make Costco clubs even more in demand. It reminds us how much we overpay for clubs. Until this lawsuit people buying the Taylor mades wouldn’t be buying Kirkland clubs until this lawsuits.
I can't see that TM have a case. There are so many visual differences when you put the irons side by side. Give me the TM every time.
What an endorsement for Costco! TM is so concerned that they sued .... must be good. Same as PXG, was comparable to TM, and they were sued. Waiting for those Kirkland's to reappear, to buy.
Will Taylor Made take a lawsuit out against the company selling fake Taylor Made irons? Probably not and if not why?
TM should focus on the quality of their drivers with the faces popping off instead of suing Costco for irons that aren't really that amazing.
I thought Ping had injected "jelly" in their irons before TaylorMade. And PXG too. And the PXG blades reminded me of the Nickent ARC blades which also had "jelly" inject in them. I think Callaway has irons with that feature also. There may be more I don't remember.
Callaway current irons use “microspheres” which are just spherical jelly
I am a well to do person financially. BUT I would never pay these brand name golf companies for their products. It's obscene.
I couldn’t buy the Kirkland only because that huge name on the iron is terribly ugly
I could care less about that. I'm not looking at the back of the club at address.
And all there gear is awful
@@petekenny3774 I don't think it is. If you're a low handicapper or anyone with deep pockets, these clubs aren't for you. However, there are a lot more high handicappers on a budget, and as you saw from the video, these clubs are more than good for that demographic. I'm a retired, higher handicapper, on a fixed income, and I'm looking for new irons. I bet I go to Costco first.
They are never available to buy. Or I would buy them in a heartbeat
@@ericjencson9489 I'd buy second hand mate much better gear for your buck ...only an opinion mate and if you wanna buy there stuff that's great I wouldn't go near it 👍
I had no intention of buying the Kirkland Signature irons, but now I will be buying them. SUCK IT Taylor Made
The same thing happened when I played paintball . Smart parts had inferior products and sued all the smaller companies . It ruined innovation and slowed competition
This is the goal of big companies.
There are a number of hollow bodied clubs out there, nobody owns the hollow body technology, as the 1st hollow bodied irons were many years ago. They do not look the same, and are significantly different to avoid copyright I would think.
The main issue for Taylormade, is the Kirkland irons are very good, but so much cheaper, that they may well take market share from Taylormade. Which any court will recognise, and that cannot be a reason to try and stop Kirkland from manufacturing those irons. The list of current hollow bodied irons is quite long, especially direct to customer brands.
It's those testing the irons who so often refer to them being a lot like Taylormade, but that is an individual objective view. Taylormade may well regret taking on this lawsuit, lawyers are expensive and are the only winners.
Like you said I think they are fighting the idea that the hollow body tech can be made for such a cheap price and the perception that Taylormade is overcharging. After reading the suit, it seems like they are trying to get Costco to admit or prove they are inferior to the taylormade clubs in their craftsmanship, thus differentiating the 2 clubs for the consumer. I don’t think this lawsuit has created brand perception damage, but I can see what they are doing
The problem is the availability of the Kirkland clubs. The Kirkland ball has become to hard, only for the super fast swing speed player. The pricing is the only advantage for Kirkland. I am not as giddy about Kirkland as you seem to be. I play Mizuno irons, Titleist tsr2 driver, and the OnCore Elixr ball. Price is the number 1 reason, but so many other factors determine what I and many of my friends buy. Taylormade and many other main stream golf companies are definitely charging way too much. I would try the Kirkland irons if they were available but we did not even know they were on the market. Thank you for this video, but the common golfer is not helped in any way by any of the “Golf Companies”.
But didn't Kirkland have to change their ball because of the Titleist lawsuit? Maybe that's why it isn't nearly as good as the Pro-v's now.
However it plays out, TM has created a lot of free advertising for Costco. Should other manufacturers get into the act, it can only help Costco. Their whole focus is on supplying comparable products at better prices. Also, why is TM even bothering going after Costco, when they have a superior product? For instance, why are they not going after Temu with their TM fake products as you previously showed?
i think you covered all bases James , im not sure what TM ate trying to acheive though, stop people with a lower budget have clubs if they think they can do beter for £400 just do it right
I think most of the “hollow” irons do look very similar to each other but slightly different (just) so as to not get sued by the “big boys”.
99.999999999% chance this get settled out of court and never sees the inside of a courtroom!
People who can't afford P790 aren't going to buy them whatever. You are also paying for custom fitting with Taylormade. Don't see why they are going down this route. major brands are all copying each other to some extent
What about Taylormade stealing the technology for the speed pocket from Adams. Then instead of saying the didn't they just buy Adams to avoid the lawsuit.
TaylorMade bought Adams so owns the speed pocket, much like BMW bought Land Rover and out popped the X5
@@donwalton6325 Costco should buy TaylorMade, problem solved.
@@donwalton6325 yes they bought Adams to avoid the lawsuit lol
They're just upset Kirkland is making a good iron And it's cheaper That's the whole thing I use Taylor made now But they're older clubs cause I can't afford the newer ones
The bit from that article that I was hoping you'd bring up, was one of the designers of the P790 now works for INDI and perhaps actually brought TM tech with him.
It's a wrinkle that may give them a leg to stand on.
So, why only Kirkland Taylormade? What about the other major manufacturers who have clubs with technology similar to the P790?
James...I'm ignorant when it comes to golf gear
But I have 30+ years of experience with the PC/Tech industry and we use ODM to make products
If Golf is the same, it wouldn't unusual for two clubs to look similar if they both used they same ODM
TM acting like they didn’t steal the speed slot from Adams Golf, and then just buy out Adams to avoid the lawsuit…
Remember pxg sued taylormade over the p790s
That’s right. They sued each other and settled on being even and walked away.
@@Joker-yh2xg they settled on some kind of “cross licensing agreement” which sounded like a win for pxg at the time.
It's all true!!! Great video...I've got them and did a review ...No one is duped into thinking they are exactly the same they are great for golfers who are not quite ready to throw out all that cash for players irons but want to start trying to shape the ball!
It's all about price, TM feel really threatened by the direct to consumer market being so much cheaper. They want to flex their considerable muscle and fix the over inflated price of there own equipment.
If by similar they are a six iron … well yes! but externally they seem to have a lot of differences … Patent rights and intellectual property can very difficult to prove…. You only have to make a few changes to existing technology and it’s different … also Kirkland might have patented their own version… which could complicate matters … Taking on multi billion dollar Costco in the courts could be a steep climb…. Be interesting to see who wins out 😳
Well done James in bringing us the overview of the TaylorMade and Costco iron legal action. I bought a set of Tokomo iron heads and had them custom fitted. I now wonder if they are next on TaylorMades list. Given Costco’s experience with the Acushnet ball suit, I would expect they have the legal wherewithal to ably defend themselves in court.
I think the ball suit was because Kirkland had found some blank “tour performance” golfballs at an overseas supplier that happened to be old prov1 golf balls. Thus the suit and why Kirkland had to change the ball construction. But the suit was enough to launch the Kirkland golfball to the market. The newer balls are not even close to the first ball but the publicity was enough that the ball has sold great. I would guess that indi golf had something to with the development or mass production of the P790. Costco probably found them and they said they had something similar tooled up already they could work off of for the Kirkland model. The key to this lawsuit is taylormade wants to make it very public that the Kirkland clubs are inferior to the taylormade clubs in performance and construction. My guess is to keep the comparisons from creating the idea that the p790s are over priced, which isn’t really working.
Just checked Costco’s website today and Kirkland irons are sold out. And they are going for six to eight hundred dollars on eBay
Kirkland sales are going to skyrocket!
Bad look after what TaylorMade did to Adams...
If the Kirkland irons were retailing at the same price as the Taylor Made irons, would TM still be suing? I think this is more about a competitor offering a similar product at a significantly cheaper price.
Once again, corporations don’t like competition. Name brand clubs have become totally unaffordable for the average person.
I spent most of my life in product management, and when a leading company reverts to suing a "non-competitor" to protect brand image, it is the sign of changing times and outdated management. Their move. without question, helps to increase Costco's legitimacy as a budding player in the "serious" golfclub business. Getting any kind of meaningful relief from a lawsuit like this is unlikely. but what is assured is a boatload of free press and questions like you posed. Put it this way. if tomorrow Ferrari decided to sue Kia over a sportscar design with the same level of fanfare as TaylorMade, who do you think would benefit the most in the long run? How many people would head to their nearest Kia to see what all the fuss was about. The upside is that we, the consumers who have been trained for decades to believe you need to spend ridiculous amount money on "little #$%^up sticks" to improve your game, will benefit.
This is just going to boost the sales in the short term for Kirkland
Titleist made "clean" looking irons back in the day. The idea that you can have no embellishments and just slap your name on it seemed to defy marketing theory.
Other brands have tried, and just fall short. There was just something that caught the eye of the cursive writing, placement, and simplicity that elevated their status. Everyday, someone describes a club that looks elegant and clean as being "like a Titleist". That doesn't make them a Titleist.
The point is; if it's not exactly the same, it's not the same.
Showing up with TM's and showing up with Kirkland's is a very distinguishable gap.
It's the same gap that exists when someone walks in with designer shoes, and the other has off-brands. They probably both do the job perfectly and to the same degree, and might even look similar... But those two people are not the same.
Just proves the Kirkland irons are very good.
What about the Caley irons then? Aren’t they extremely similar
It is ridiculous, are Ping going to sue Taylormade for using 10k when it was first used in the promotional material for the 425max driver? As you say Taylormade should accept Cosco as flattery.
If they believe that there’s merit in this lawsuit -and obviously they do- why not sue all the other brands who have foam filled irons? Something isn’t making sense to me!!
Some people care about the logo on their clubs and those people with continue to buy name brand gear. Outside of that, I feel like Costco branded clubs are fairly difficult to find in stock so I don’t really have an opportunity the game them anyway
just checked the costco site and those clubs are not available yet. Are they only in UK for the moment or they will be available everywhere soon ? Keep your excellent work James, it is so informative to us the every day players.
Hi James. You talk a lot about the cheaper clubs and I completely agree.
The one thing I've never heard, is are the ferrules and adjustable bits the same as someone else's? Could you buy a Kirkland driver and simply swap shafts with another makes with any work?
TIA.
Way to make those Costco clubs look even better, TM
I can’t really say ..it’s all about price for the average golfer.. 600 dollars compared to 1500 dollars.. I be going for Costco!
Then they have to Sue all other brands as well.
You can be certain if Costco priced the Kirkland irons in the $1300 to $1500 range Taylor Made would have no issues whatsoever.
So apparently the Kirkland irons have a “urethane insert” similar to the polymer “speed foam” insert used by Taylormade , BUT…. Taylormade claimed in the lawsuit that the “urethane insert” claim is completely false and it’s false advertising …. Which leaves me questioning some things ..So was it completely hollow or did they use polymer like Taylormade…or perhaps something else… which is interesting when you consider how well they performed..
This isn't about an "inferior" product. The fact of the matter, any one can have success with these Kirkland irons, scratch or weekend golfer alike. What this all comes down to, is money. Taylor Made is worried that this "inferior" product is going to hurt their profits, and they should be. I applaud Kirkland for doing this, cause it proves that ALL the big companies (TM, Titleist, Ping, Cobra etc etc.) are just ripping people off. Kirkland has created a P790 iron for a fraction of the cost with similar performance, and won't lose money because it doesn't cost as much money to produce it as you may think. I'm all for capitalism, but at some point this becomes theft...case & point the current driver market.
Until this came up, I had no idea that Costco even had golf clubs. And it surprises me a bit that TM is even threatened by this - they are really in a different market segment. It seems like they ought to go after the big name brands first.
I mean, you can go to any thrift store here in the US (I think they're called Charity shops in the UK and Ireland?) and find replica clubs of Ping i2 and varying Taylor Made irons.
I just did a quick google. TaylorMade is worth $3.23B while Costco is worth more than $300B and is number 11 on Fortune 500.
Costco will be laughing at this.
Taylormade appears to be worried but there’s no need to be, most golfers will still buy taylormade
I really want to buy a set of Kirklands irons now!
Taylormade net worth 2 billion Costco 312 billion looking for a pay day.🤔 Also what about all the other clubs cobra being very similar forged tec x
If top brands wouldn’t require a second mortgage to purchase a set of clubs things like this wouldn’t happen…
More people get into a game or sport when the cost is lower.
Surely these clubs are targeting totally different audiences?
TaylorMade is a premium brand & Kirkland have made a SIMILAR budget club
To me, if they used the same technology and claim the same results then maybe they have a case. I bought the TM 790 because I am a TM fan and if both were on the market at the same time as I purchased mine I would have purchased the TM's. If I wasn't a fan, if I wasn't getting fitted, if $ was an issue maybe I would have went with the K-sigs. I think TM would have to show how they have been negatively affected or copyright infringed, but I am no lawyer. Interesting to see how this plays out.
Only the lawyers will make out'
There was a feller back in the 1850s, named Rollin White, who patented the concept of the bored through cylinders for revolvers. He was an employee of Sam Colt at the time. He offered the patent to Colt, who refused it. He then licensed the patent to Smith and Wesson, a startup gun maker, who offered him $.25 per pistol sold in royalties, and got Mr. White to agree to defend his patent whenever and wherever it was violated. Smith & Wesson went on to have a legal monopoly on pistol designs that incorporated Roland White's bored through cylinder patent and the new fangled metallic cartridges that went into them that lasted until 1869. Eventually, during the life of the patent S&W had to also pursue patent infringement cases as well. White made $71,000* from the S&W deal. while S&W made $1,000,000 in profits from their Model 1, Model 3 and Model 3 Russian pistol sales over the life of the patent.
Between Rollin White and S&W, they spent a third of it on lawyers defending the patent. In the end, White was unsuccessful and the lawyers made a lot of money. After the patent expired, Colt got to use it for free, presenting the Colt 1872 Single Action Army revolver in .45 caliber, the most famous cowboy gun of them all.
*$71,000 USD in the 1860s was worth about $1.6 million today.
So sad to be reminded of the US obsession with guns
@@martingrummett9165 It is even more sad to realize that you entirely missed the point of the comment.
Could have done a similar example about knives, I suppose, but we aren't obsessed with knife violence. There are cases of patent infringement originating in Japan, I guess, that wouldn't offend your sensibilities.
By the way. Best of luck to you.
@@boydgrandy5769 No, I didn't miss the point - it was just the choice of example.
Taylormade just sold more Costco clubs than they would ever sell on their own.
If Costco can show that other companies, especially the major brands, have incorporated various pieces or aspects of the P790s that TM has not gone after then I think they might have a good defense.
Taylormade made a huge mistake here! Any golfer that is contemplating spending extra money they might not want to spend, but willing to because of the name taylormade, just chose costco Irons! If taylormade would have kept quiet, those golfers in that line would have gone for the big name! Similar or not in this economy a lot of people might not have that extra money and now they can feel good about saving that $400 and choose costco!
Maybe if Taylormade wasn’t selling the P790s for almost $2000 they would sell more and there wouldn’t be an issue with Costco. These big name brands need to be knocked down a few pegs so let’s support direct to consumer brands and make a statement that we will not tolerate these ridiculous prices.
I just looked at the Costco website and their clubs aren’t available anymore.
They aren't suing Takomo. My Callaway apex CF 16s are almost the same as the P790s. Are they that threatened by a Chinese knock off big box brand that they need a lawsuit? Something is fishy....
As long as Kirkland isn’t infringing on the patent then no harm no foul
It seems all new golf technology and materials are eventually used by all manufacturers in their products eventually. From metal woods to titanium to carbon fiber. And speed slots and loft adjustable hotels. How much can one company actually corner the market on ?
Hit P790s and thought they were terrible to be honest i will stick to my old Mizuno blades thanks and as for copying. Loads of irons they make look similar to other brands out there. Maybe they should concentrate on upping the build quality of its drivers and stop wasting time with law suits after seeing the alarming number of clubheads coming apart on the Internet.
Since the PXG settlement, I kind of think TaylorMade needs a retaliation on similar matter. Intrestingly though the PXG lux price point came down to other premium brads level.
You only have to change a very small part of the club to make it distinct and individual. Copying tried and true versions of almost anything is standard practice. Lawsuit has no validity.
They look plenty different enough to me, if this action succeeds in court I would be very surprised. It's a golf club, there are hundreds of similar heads on the market.
The thing I no working for costco and in RTV is that a major brand makes the club usually out of their design Example tide makes Kirkland brand pods and so on. Can you guess who makes Kirklands cranberry juice. Costco dose not make or designs Kirkland products
It's all about taylormades profits. Costco dont sponsor big names for their clubs so if they can bang the clubs out for less good on them and better for the consumer. Most club golfers aren't going to buy Costco because most of us don't want an ear bashing on the tee
Costco need to have a social media team like Aldi. Their 'Free Cuthbert' campaign was well run. Increase in sales and the public were supporting them.