Popular Post GolfSpy_BOS Posted February 1 Popular Post Share Posted February 1 https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/taylormade-files-lawsuit-against-costco-over-kirkland-signature-irons/ Big news dropping today! Click over to the full story to read more but here are the highlights: Yesterday, TaylorMade filed a lawsuit against Costco Wholesale and Southern California Design Company over willful patent infringement in regards to Costco’s new Kirkland Signature Players Irons. Not surprisingly this is due to similarity with the P-790 irons. I mean, who didn't see that coming right? Sort of surprisingly SCDC (Southern California Design Company) is believed to be the manufacturer of the Kirkland irons appears to also be tied to brand Indi Golf. Also noted in the claims is that the Costco irons do not actually contain any urethane inserts as advertised. I'm sure we'll hear more as the story progresses. What do you spies think? msanagustin, EMacK1961, TJ Hall and 19 others 8 2 11 1 Quote Qi10 - Terra Forza White | Speedzone 5-wood - Ventus Blue 8S | G430 3-Hybrid - Kai'li White 80s SMS Pro 4-PW - Steelfiber i110S | MG3 Raw Black 50.09, 54.11, 58.11 - DG TI S200 Mezz Max | Pro V1x | Vortex Blade | Ghost Maverick Black Ops - Forum Edition | CaddyLite EZ v8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFreddie Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 What do I think? Better buy up one of the last remaining sets as they could be collector's items soon! But seriously, I'm not shocked - they bear a striking resemblance to the 790s (as you called out). The urethane exclusion is pretty surprising (even in light of the Caley "controversy" recently). Rob Person, Byrnzee, GolfSpy_BOS and 3 others 6 Quote Driver: Paradym with Ventus TR Blue 60 Stiff Fairways: Aerojet Max 3W & 7W with Hzrdus Smoke Blue RDX 70 Stiff Hybrid: King TEC 5H with KBS PGI 95 Stiff Irons: Forged TEC 5-PW with KBS Tour Lite Stiff Wedges: Haywood Signature Raw Wedges (50 / 54 / 58) Putter: L.A.B. DF3 (aka "Chewie") Ball: 2023 Maxfli Tour Reviews: L.A.B. DF3 Cobra 50th Anniversary Member Testing Callaway Paradym Titleist White Box Testing (2023) Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GolfSpy_BOS Posted February 1 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 1 Personally I'm not at all surprised that the Kirkland irons got the attention of TaylorMade. I think every video review I saw on the Kirkland's had some mention of the P-790 in it. That's not to say they are the only goo-filled hollow-body players distance iron, but it seemed like it was more than being in the same category. I couldn't tell you what patents TM has for the P-790 but I don't blame them for exercising their right if there is indeed infringement on them. I'm almost more interested in the false advertising claims and finding out the story on that and learning more about SCDC. SirPrised, Byrnzee, BallsLeon and 11 others 14 Quote Qi10 - Terra Forza White | Speedzone 5-wood - Ventus Blue 8S | G430 3-Hybrid - Kai'li White 80s SMS Pro 4-PW - Steelfiber i110S | MG3 Raw Black 50.09, 54.11, 58.11 - DG TI S200 Mezz Max | Pro V1x | Vortex Blade | Ghost Maverick Black Ops - Forum Edition | CaddyLite EZ v8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Parker Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I'm not surprised at all. Actually more surprised this hasn't happened with a few companies but then again no one has been as big ($$$$) as Costco to use a design almost identical. GaDawg, Michael.Sandoval33, EMacK1961 and 3 others 6 Quote Titleist GT3 11* Tensei 1k blue Titleist TSR2 4w 16* Titleist TSR2 5w 18.75* MKII ZX 5's (4-6) w/ KBS Tour V MKII ZX 7's (7-PW) w/ KBS Tour V Vokey SM9 Wedges 50* 54* 58* DF2.1 Putter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringerofRain Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I think this will only help Costco Sell their Irons unless the court issues a temporary restraining order while the case is ongoing. I think that’s what it’s called. I did graduate 10 years ago. Memory a little hazy. However if my memory is correct last time Costco was sued they lost because their ball was too close to the PROV1. Whoever got those clubs appears to got a nice W buckpillar, Rob Person, ZJeb67 and 1 other 4 Quote Everyone stinks, yes even the pros. Have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoopy79 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 (edited) I think it really isn't a shocker at all. All this hype on the looks and then the reviews really started to pile on about their similarities to TM made it a big target. A bit of drama and intrigue on these KSIG sticks is gonna make them even harder to get a hold of. Get em while you can Edited February 1 by snoopy79 buckpillar, sirchunksalot and Rob Person 3 Quote Current WITB: Driver: Kirkland Signature, adj. 10.5 Evenflow Riptide-Stiff, w/JumboMax Tour Series grip Fairway: KE4 3W w/KE4 75-R Irons MMB Forged 3-PW w/TT Dynamic Gold Lite Wedges: Vokey SM10 wedges 48.10F, 54.10S, 60.08M Putter: Sycamore 008 Mallet Preferred Ball: Vice Tour, or Vice Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC Golf Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 To me this seems like quite the surprise. Costco supplier knowing infringing on TM intellectual property is something you would have thought they would have learned from in other products. Not just golf. Litigation is not cheap so it will be interesting where this leads. EMacK1961, sirchunksalot and Rob Person 3 Quote TSR 3 9.0 Autoflex 405x - Official Tester 2024 TSi 3 15.0 GD Tour AD - DI 6S Stiff Utility 2 Iron 18.0 - Nippon NS Pro 650GH Stiff / TS3 21 Hybrid Tensei AV Blue 65 HY Stiff 4 - 9 101T Irons - KBS Tour Lite Stiff - Official Tester 2023 Vokey SM9 46 F - 10 BV105 Stiff Vokey SM9 52 F - 12 Nippon NS Pro 950 Stiff Vokey Forged (Japan) 56 M - 10 DG S200 MG3 60 - 12 - Nippon NS Modus3 Tour 105 Stiff Champions Choice Newport 2+ Button Back - 35” / Pistolini Plus Z-Star Diamond Players 4 bag Official Tester - 2021 & Current Club Sensor User Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msanagustin Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I did read about the similarities in an article, honestly as we all experience, the cost of equipment is insane. I think as long as Costco didn't infringe on any pattents it's proof that gear can be made affordable....and their recourse is to tie it up in legal process to delay....if I find them in my store I'd probably get them purely on price point to try. ZJeb67, sirchunksalot and Rob Person 3 Quote msanagustin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrek74 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 51 minutes ago, GolfSpy BOS said: https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/taylormade-files-lawsuit-against-costco-over-kirkland-signature-irons/ Big news dropping today! Click over to the full story to read more but here are the highlights: Yesterday, TaylorMade filed a lawsuit against Costco Wholesale and Southern California Design Company over willful patent infringement in regards to Costco’s new Kirkland Signature Players Irons. Not surprisingly this is due to similarity with the P-790 irons. I mean, who didn't see that coming right? Sort of surprisingly SCDC (Southern California Design Company) is believed to be the manufacturer of the Kirkland irons appears to also be tied to brand Indi Golf. Also noted in the claims is that the Costco irons do not actually contain any urethane inserts as advertised. I'm sure we'll hear more as the story progresses. What do you spies think? So are they filing lawsuits against Sub70, Takomo, Caley, Haywood, Mizuno, Callaway, Cobra, and every other brand for the same thing? They all have hollow-body irons at this point. PXG could file suit against Taylormade since their Gen1 hollow-body came out before the P790's did. ZJeb67, barney_bogey, sirchunksalot and 2 others 5 Quote Driver: AI Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver, 11.5* @ 10.5* D, Stiff HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX, 70g, 43.75" 4 Wood: Stealth Plus 5w, 19* @ 17*, Stiff HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX, 70g 7 Wood: Stealth2 21*, Stiff Ventus Red TR 6-S Non-Velocore Hybrid: Fli-Hi 23* Hybrid / Iron Replacement, UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4 Irons: JPX923 Hot Metal Pro, 5-GW, UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4 Wedges: S23, 54* & 60*, UST Mamiya Recoil 95 F4 Putter: Moment X Tour @ 35" & 71*, Super Stroke Pistol GT 2.0, White/Red Ball: Tour CG Technology: Anarch Rangefinder, V5 w/ Tags Shot Tracking. https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/65161-vortex-optics-rangefinders-2024-member-test/?do=findComment&comment=1089247 https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/66852-unofficial-review-tpi-virtual-assessment https://forum.mygolfspy.com/classifieds/ - DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CLASSIFIEDS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vandyland Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 1 hour ago, CFreddie said: (even in light of the Caley "controversy" recently). What is the caley controversy? sirchunksalot 1 Quote STZ 230 9.5* / Pro Fli-Hi 21* MALTBY TS1-IM 5-GW Equalizer II 54* / Carnoustie 60* L.A.B. Directed Force 2.1 HackMotion Official Review -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFreddie Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Long story short - Caley advertised their irons included foam and tungsten, which apparently wasn’t true. Not a good look, but at least they are admitting fault and offering refunds. sirchunksalot, jbern, BallsLeon and 1 other 4 Quote Driver: Paradym with Ventus TR Blue 60 Stiff Fairways: Aerojet Max 3W & 7W with Hzrdus Smoke Blue RDX 70 Stiff Hybrid: King TEC 5H with KBS PGI 95 Stiff Irons: Forged TEC 5-PW with KBS Tour Lite Stiff Wedges: Haywood Signature Raw Wedges (50 / 54 / 58) Putter: L.A.B. DF3 (aka "Chewie") Ball: 2023 Maxfli Tour Reviews: L.A.B. DF3 Cobra 50th Anniversary Member Testing Callaway Paradym Titleist White Box Testing (2023) Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BallsLeon Posted February 1 Popular Post Share Posted February 1 Idea for MGS HQ article: "How to tell if your Player's Distance iron has goo in it or not?" ZJeb67, GaDawg, CFreddie and 9 others 1 9 2 Quote Driver : GBB Epic, 10.5° loft, autoFlex Dream7, SF405x flex (44.75") 3-Wood: Rogue ST LS, 15° loft, MCA TENSEI AV Blue 65g, Reg flex (42.25", tipped 0.5") 3-Hybrid: Z H85, 19° loft, HZRDUS Black 85g, 5.5 flex Irons: T350 5i & T200 6i-GW, 23°-48° lofts, Nippon Modus3 120g, Stiff flex (+0.5”, 1° upright) Wedges: JB Forged Raw 54° & 58° lofts, Nippon Modus3 120g, Reg flex (+0.5/0.25", 0.5° upright) Putter: DS72 C, 35”, PP60 grip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattWillGolf Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Golf certainly has a history of “borrowing” design features. Ping “Ansers” appear in the portfolios of nearly every manufacturer as well as boutique putter makers. Not sure how this is any different. But maybe a legal expert can comment. Rob Person, CFreddie, vandyland and 1 other 4 Quote Anyday Maverick Black Ops 7-way 0311 Black Ops 8° w/Mitsubishi Diamana S+ 60 0311 XF 3 wood 16° w/Fujikura Motore X F3 0211 Hybrid 3 19° w/Project X Even Flow Riptide G410 Crossover 4 w/Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Blue 70 Paradym X 6 - AW w/True Temper Elevate MPH Official Forum Test SM10 50°/12° F w/KBS Tour Lite, SM9 54°/12° D and 58°/12° D w/KBS Tour 110 DF3 w/BGT Stability ONE Forum Test Shot Scope Pro LX+ Pro LX+ Official Forum Test Pro V1 3.5+ Tests No Longer in the Bag ER11v 34” Evnroll ER11v Official Forum Test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stovetop11 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Saw that one coming. GaDawg and Rob Person 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelieb Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 I wouldn’t be surprised if Titleist went after them as well for their driver for how it looks. Everyone that has reviewed it has said it looks eerily similar to the titleist drivers. That’s not a good look for Costco. BringerofRain, GaDawg, CFreddie and 1 other 4 Quote Callaway Paradym AI Smoke Max 9* with Tensei AV Blue 55 Mizuno ST Max 3 wood PXG 7 wood with Mitsubishi Diamana Shafts Mizuno Pro 225 5-GW with Dynamic Gold S300 shafts Mizuno S23 54 and 58 degree wedges L.A.B. DF3 Putter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringerofRain Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 41 minutes ago, Wheelieb said: I wouldn’t be surprised if Titleist went after them as well for their driver for how it looks. Everyone that has reviewed it has said it looks eerily similar to the titleist drivers. That’s not a good look for Costco. I personally love it from Costco. I hope they lose the lawsuit proving you can make the same quality of clubs for 1/3 of the price. Rob Person and Michael.Sandoval33 2 Quote Everyone stinks, yes even the pros. Have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelieb Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 53 minutes ago, BringerofRain said: I personally love it from Costco. I hope they lose the lawsuit proving you can make the same quality of clubs for 1/3 of the price. Oh I’m just saying it wouldn’t surprise me if it happened. If it did and these companies won against Costco, more people would be questioning why they are charging so much. Rob Person 1 Quote Callaway Paradym AI Smoke Max 9* with Tensei AV Blue 55 Mizuno ST Max 3 wood PXG 7 wood with Mitsubishi Diamana Shafts Mizuno Pro 225 5-GW with Dynamic Gold S300 shafts Mizuno S23 54 and 58 degree wedges L.A.B. DF3 Putter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Steve Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 4 hours ago, Shrek74 said: So are they filing lawsuits against Sub70, Takomo, Caley, Haywood, Mizuno, Callaway, Cobra, and every other brand for the same thing? They all have hollow-body irons at this point. PXG could file suit against Taylormade since their Gen1 hollow-body came out before the P790's did. TM had the ICW 3 and ICW 11 irons back in the mid 1990’s. Hollow body, foam filled, internal perimeter weighting. I still have mine and game them every so often. The problems I had with thw ICW’s were they could not be bent more that ~1* per TM and they just plain gnawed the cover off the ball. Shrek74 and Rob Person 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Person Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 I'm thinking that 75% of these dtc companies are cast from the same hubs over the world. Not sure if them being a degree or few mm's different will save them in the end. What I do know is that making decent golf equipent affordable, probably impacted their quarterly numbers enough to grab the attention of a few corporate honchos. GaDawg 1 Quote WITB- Driver -Titleist 910D, 3w- Titleist 910F, 5hy/7hy- Titleist 910H, 6-PW - Stix , 52⁰, 56⁰, 60⁰ - Stix , Putter- AI-ONE DB / Lombardi Tour 34 custom Just an old newbie golfer, trying to learn and improve 1 club at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbern Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 6 hours ago, GolfSpy BOS said: I'm almost more interested in the false advertising claims and finding out the story on that and learning more about SCDC. I agree! That is very interesting! I do remember someone telling me the Kirkland’s were supposed to have the King of the goos in those things! Turns out it’s hollow BallsLeon and Rob Person 2 Quote WITB (link to detailed post here): Driver: LTDx 9* (ProjectX BlueSmoke Stiff) Fairway metals: 3W TSR2 14.25* (ProjectX BlueSmoke Stiff) | 5W Gen4 0341XF (Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 75 S) Hybrid: 4H Gen4 0317XF (Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 75HY S) Irons: 659 CB 5-AW (Project X Rifle 6.0) Wedges: 286 54* & 58* (KBS Tour 120 S) Putter: DF3 OFFICIAL MEMBER REVIEW HERE ‘24 Ball: pro drip: red & blue | Tour S Pushcart: 4.0 | '23 MGS Clicgear 4.0 Pushcart Tester | Link here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJerry Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 huge news coming out of the big machine! I saw a comment on a post on instagram along the lines of "taylormade are basically telling everyone you can get the same irons at Costco for $1000 dollars less" - thought this was quite funny. CFreddie, Shrek74 and Rob Person 2 1 Quote Titleist driver, Sim 3 wood, Srixon hybrid, mizuno irons and a 3 ball putter - I’ll play anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringerofRain Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 (edited) I thought everyone would be interested in this paragraph from the specific complaint indicating patent infringement The complaint isn’t that long but this was by far the most interesting part. Edited February 2 by BringerofRain Rob Person, Shrek74, Michael.Sandoval33 and 3 others 6 Quote Everyone stinks, yes even the pros. Have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfSpy_APH Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 This whole thing is really interesting! CFreddie and Rob Person 2 Quote as of Oct 5, 2024 (Past WITB) Driver: GT2 with Graphite Design AD CQ - check out the Driver Shootout! Wood: GT2 with Graphite Design AD CQ shaft (still love my Cobra F7's) Irons: T Series - T200 5 Iron T150 6-9 Iron Wedge: Toura Golf - A Spec 53,57 or SM10 45,49,53,57 degree wedges Putter: LINK! Full putter shootout incoming Balls: Vice Pro Plus Drip (Blue/Orange) Golf Bag: Ghost Anyday 5.0 Golf bag - Maverick colorway with MGS Logo Other: Vortex Anarch Rangefinder, searching for electric cart, Red Rooster The Root Glove and more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ping_Ping Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Does Costco put a pause on selling more Kirkland Irons or do they keep pumping them out to the masses... This is going to build the hype even more if they continue to sell them. Rob Person and CFreddie 2 Quote Sports Enthusiast Football & Golf steal the show Traveling to warmer weather locations Bourbon Spirits and Czech Style Pilsners Johnny Tobacconaut is my go to golf stogie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Parker Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 1 hour ago, BringerofRain said: I thought everyone would be interested in this paragraph from the specific complaint indicating patent infringement The complaint isn’t that long but this was by far the most interesting part. Very interesting paragraph. It will be interesting to see how things play out. Rob Person, Michael.Sandoval33 and CFreddie 3 Quote Titleist GT3 11* Tensei 1k blue Titleist TSR2 4w 16* Titleist TSR2 5w 18.75* MKII ZX 5's (4-6) w/ KBS Tour V MKII ZX 7's (7-PW) w/ KBS Tour V Vokey SM9 Wedges 50* 54* 58* DF2.1 Putter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Person Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Sounds like Somebody is salty they lost a good engineer! And being that he is clearly a good design engineer, surely he was smart enough to make necessary changes to keep then from being too similar CFreddie 1 Quote WITB- Driver -Titleist 910D, 3w- Titleist 910F, 5hy/7hy- Titleist 910H, 6-PW - Stix , 52⁰, 56⁰, 60⁰ - Stix , Putter- AI-ONE DB / Lombardi Tour 34 custom Just an old newbie golfer, trying to learn and improve 1 club at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelieb Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 25 minutes ago, Rob Person said: Sounds like Somebody is salty they lost a good engineer! And being that he is clearly a good design engineer, surely he was smart enough to make necessary changes to keep then from being too similar To Taylormade it was way to similar so they had to file suit in their mind. Don’t want someone selling what you’re already selling, and for less Rob Person 1 Quote Callaway Paradym AI Smoke Max 9* with Tensei AV Blue 55 Mizuno ST Max 3 wood PXG 7 wood with Mitsubishi Diamana Shafts Mizuno Pro 225 5-GW with Dynamic Gold S300 shafts Mizuno S23 54 and 58 degree wedges L.A.B. DF3 Putter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParFore74x Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out. One would assume that the engineers behind the Kirklands would be careful not to infringe upon and patents but who knows. Rob Person 1 Quote TSi3 10° w/ Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 65g TS2 15° 3W w/ Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 6.0 70g TSR2 21° Hybrid w/ Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 85g JPX 921 HM 5-GW w/ Project X LZ 5.5 115g JB Forged 54° & 58° w/ Project X LZ 6.0 120g EV5.3 Black Official Tester Review Nitron push cart Unofficial review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAYER38 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 I believe once the suit is filed they have to stop sales until it is resolved but I'm sure that's somewhere in the fine print we wont get to see. I can only speak from my basic knowledge after staying at a holiday inn express haha Rob Person 1 Quote DRIVER Paradym Ai SMOKE MAX D w/ Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 55-R 10.5* HYBRID Big Bertha 19 w/ UST Recoil DART 75-S 20* IRONS TS3 Forged 4i-GW w/ True Temper Score LT 100-R WEDGES Glide Forged Pro w/ ZZ115-W 52-10*/58-10*/58-6* PUTTER HB SOFT 8 w/ Center Shaft 3* Check out my Tests... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylorjonasher Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 All I can think about is the lawyer fees that Costco will be hemorrhaging over this, and if my f'ng hot dog and Pepsi goes up above a $1.59 to offset this I'm going to be livid. Another Steve, markrief, Rob Person and 3 others 1 5 Quote Titleist TSR3 // Tensei 1K Black 65g Titleist TSR3 3W 15* // HZRDOUS Black 70g Titleist U505 2i // HZRDOUS Black 85g Taylormade P770 4-PW // Nippon NS Pro Modus 3 105g Callaway JAWS MD5 50* Callaway JAWS Raw 54* / 58* Taylormade Spider GTX Single Bend Splitback / Ping Zing 2 Titleist ProV1 // Srixon Z-Star XV (Depending on how much money I want to lose any given swing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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