Written By: Tony Covey
While Trademark filings generally don’t provide us with absolute specification, or any real technical detail, they can provide us with a kind of blurry insight into upcoming products, and sometimes even a glimpse of how those products will be eventually marketed to the consumer.
Such is the case with some recent applications filed by Callaway Golf.
KINGS of SPEED
A year and a half ago, in a move clearly borrowed from Howard Stern, Callaway declared itself the Kings of all Distance. Within the continuing spirit of that previous filing, Callaway is poised to declare itself the Kings of Speed.
And some say the golf industry lacks originality. At least Callaway’s products won’t be #madeoffastness.
We can reasonably assume that this Speed thing is related to club speed in the recent tradition of V-Series and XR, or Callaway’s Long Drive team, and not some predilection inside the company for crystal meth.
I’m also going to assume that Kings of Puffery was already taken.
What is a Trademark?
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.
Also In Callaway’s Trademark Pipeline…
B16 – It’s hard to decipher much from 3 letters, but my money is on Bertha 16. After releasing two drivers with unconscionably long names (Big Bertha Alpha 815 and Big Bertha Alpha 815 Double Black Diamond), Callaway appears ready to do all of us a favor and keep things a bit more concise for 2016.
Sound Chamber/Sound Core – Callaway has filed Trademark requests for both. We know Callaway loves cores, so why not have sound join gravity in the lineup? This could be as simple as how Callaway describes its latest must-have feature, or it could be a foray into adjustable sound.
Stay tuned…
CF16 – I’m guessing a forged iron product. Apex is due for replacement, and an evolution of the X-Forged isn’t out of the question.
Big T – While I’d like to think this is how I’m referred to inside the walls of Callaway Golf (as in “Did you see the crap Big T wrote about us? Didn’t we pay to have him killed?”), Big T could just as easily be a new Tank putter. Of course, it could also just as easily be something totally different.
MD3 Milled / W Grind – These two appear fairly obvious. Big toe-up PM grind notwithstanding, the MD2 wedge is due for replacement, and the logical progression would be to MD3. Why not add a new W-Grind (wide-sole) while we’re at it? Bounce and grind stories are all the rage in wedge-craft right now, so it’s reasonable to assume Callaway would want to join the discussion.
No Guarantees
There are no guarantees Callaway will use all or even any of these. It’s not uncommon for Trademarks to be abandoned, as was the case with a Callaway filing for Torpedo (the underwater golf ball that never was?). There’s even less of a guarantee that I’m right about what all of these will eventually become, but occasionally it’s fun to speculate and spark a discussion.
How will these Trademarks manifest themselves?
This is Callaway, so we probably won’t have to wait long to find out.
ComeOnSense
9 years ago
Isn’t “Speed” a drug? and now you want to be known as the “king” of it?