SUED: Odyssey Under Fire From EZ-Line Putters

Ever sent a design idea you had to a major golf company…only to have it returned in the same envelope and not even opened? Well if you did not understand why they could care less about your ideas then read this:

Odyssey Golf who is owned by Callaway is being sued over 5 of its present designs (Odyssey White Hot XG #7, Odyssey White Hot XG #7 Long, Odyssey Black Series I #7 , Odyssey White Hot Sabertooth and the White Hot XG Marxman Blade). But you may never have heard of the company claiming that Odyssey stole their designs. The company is called EZ-Line Putters and they are claiming that back in 1999, 2001 and 2004 they contacted Callaway concerning their concepts, ideas and designs for improved golf putters and offered Callaway a license under their patents. (Shame on you Callaway….right?) Well maybe not.

This is where it can get a little tricky. I am not saying that EZ-Line Putters doesn’t have a leg to stand on, but you have to understand something that has happened in the golf industry of late. Most of the major OEM golf companies stopped accepting outside design ideas years ago just for this reason. Years ago many of the designs you saw hitting the stores were actually designed by freelancers. But since this world has turned into such a “Sue Happy” place, they have had to look within their own doors for all their new ideas and designs. It became too much of a risk for them to open an envelope from some stranger, look at his design idea, send it back to him, decide not to use it, but use something that might look similar 10 years later, and then get sued. So most of them have a “DO NOT OPEN” policy…meaning they will not open anything sent to them.

But it sounds like back then Callaway might have actually looked at the designs by Nick Colucci at EZ-Line Putters, or atleast that is what he is claiming. So we shall have to wait and see the result of this one.