Titleist Goes After Another Parody Golf Gear Company After Settling With The First

from the par-for-the-course dept

A little over a year ago, we discussed how Acushnet, the company that owns brands like Titleist and FootJoy in the golf gear industries, had sued I Made Bogey, a company that created parody golf gear. Crude parodies, at that, with the headlining product being a hat styled after Titleist's famous golf hat that read "Titties" instead of "Titleist." While Acushnet had brought claims of trademark infringement and dilution, we noted at the time both that these claims were fairly specious -- the parody only works in all of this if you are clear on the difference between golf's waspy culture and I Made Bogey's sophmoric take on it -- and that the case would almost certainly be settled out of court. It's not like I Made Bogey had the same gobs of money to throw at the case as Acushnet, after all.

Well, it seems like this might be turning into a game of litigious whac-a-mole, as Acushnet has now sued another company pulling the exact same parody and joke, and a whole bunch more.

On Friday, Acushnet set its sights on an Australian company called Golf Gods that is apparently making the same joke. The company’s website boasts a diverse inventory of accessories and apparel — including polo shirts patterned with flamingos or decorated with a cartoon figure breaking his club over his knee — but Acushnet wants punitive damages and an injunction over the line similar to its Titleist products.

The complaint details all of the supposed cases of infringement in question, but one of them is the exact same "Titties" hat that I Made Bogey had been selling. Alongside that one, Acushnet claims that various other parody lines of clothing and apparel also represent trademark infringement and dilution.

In addition to its cursive logo, Acushnet says Golf Gods has been infringing its protected marks “#1 Ball in Golf,” “Pro V1” and “Footjoy.”

The latter company’s products use the marks “#1 Sluttiest Ball in Golf,” “Hoe V1” and “Footjob.”

So let's just make a couple of things clear. First, these jokes mostly suck. This kind of lazy parody built on offense is mostly stupid, save for its unique value in poking fun at golf culture. Even there, they barely do the job. Second, tastefulness is not in question when it comes to trademark concerns. For infringement, there needs to be a risk of customer confusion between the companies putting forth these products. That, as was the case with I Made Bogey, is of no concern here. The only value in Golf Gods products rests solely on everyone being in on the joke, no matter how the products themselves are stylized.

As for dilution, Acushnet would have to show that these parody products somehow harm the Titleist reputation or steal some of its fame. Again, such claims are laughable. These jokes again only work because Titleist is so famous, well known, and respected. That's the entire point.

As was the case the last go around, a settlement is somewhat likely. The one wrinkle is that Golf Gods is an Australian company. Given that the parody company isn't talking about the suit at all, however, indicates that it's taking this seriously. So, again, probably a settlement coming for what is clear parody that ought to be protected.

Filed Under: golf, parody, titleist, trademark
Companies: acushnet, golf gods, i made bogey, titleist

Titleist Tees Up Lawsuit Against Parody Clothier Because Golf Doesn't Have A Sense Of Humor

from the fore! dept

Back in the more innocent era of the early 2010s, you may recall that we discussed a series of delightful trademark disputes between clothier North Face and a couple of guys who started a business first called South Butt (later changed to Butt Face). In those series of posts, we discussed two conflicting facts: trademark lawsuits against parody operators such as this are extremely hard to win in court... except that those same lawsuits are crazy expensive to fight, so the parody operators typically just cave and settle. It's one of those corners of the law in which the very framework of the legal system virtually ensures that the proper legal conclusion is never reached. Yay.

It seems that North Face's peers in the clothing industry share its disdain for these parody companies. Titleist, for instance, recently filed a trademark and dilution lawsuit against a company called I Made Bogey, suggesting that the following example of its product both will confuse the public as to its origins and will tarnish Titleist's reputation.

Now, if you want to make the point that the hats and other items with this same branding aren't funny, go ahead. I'm right there with you. It's not even particularly clever. That said, it's also not the case that anyone is going to view this stuff as anything other than what it actually is: a parody of the notably poshly-presented golf brand. In fact, the joke only works, insofar as it does at all, if a person realizes that the parody pokes fun at the polite and often Waspy culture of golf. In other words, none of this is a thing were it not easily differentiated from Titleist's brand. For that very reason, attacks on parody like this have a heavy legal load to tow up a large mountain of precedent.

In the suit, Titleist claims both trademark infringement and dilution. For dilution to stick, it must show that I Made Bogey’s hats tarnish Titleist’s reputation or blurs its fame. For trademark infringement, however, Titleist must show that consumers would be confused by the two logos. “They would have to show that people would think Titleist is making hats” with the sexually explicit misspelling, said Tobin, the attorney. And that would be pretty difficult, she said.

And, yet, despite all of that, conventional wisdom suggests that this will all be settled out of court before the lawsuit progresses much further. The cost to fight this fight is likely to be too much for I Made Bogey to shoulder.

That doesn’t mean I Made Bogey is necessarily going to prevail, though. Trademark suits are expensive to defend, and there’s no guarantee the maker of Titties hats will come out on top. If you want a lewd golf hat, act sooner rather than later.

And, whatever your opinion of I Made Bogey's products, that's too bad. Taste is not really at issue when it comes to protecting parody, an important form of speech. Defenders of free speech need to be able to keep their spines when opportunities to defend speech they don't like arise. This is certainly one of those times. Abusing trademark law and playing pretend about public confusion to silence offensive speech is an action without any virtue.

Filed Under: golf, parody, trademark
Companies: titleist