A Michigan law firm is on the hook for $33 million dollars after failing to protect the rights of the technology behind Warrior’s lacrosse patent stick from 2004 to May of 2009. Unlike other sports, Research and Development in lacrosse has spurred major growth and, in recent years, new products have dramatically affected the way the game is played.
More on the lawsuit from law.com:
Warrior Sports Inc., a Michigan sports equipment manufacturer, alleges that Detroit’s Dickinson Wright is liable for the actions of two patent attorneys who let the stick’s patent lapse in 2004 after failing to pay a required maintenance fee on time. Consequently, the suit claims, competitors entered the market with similar lacrosse sticks, whose curved heads make it easier to scoop up the ball and shoot it. The patent lapse also forced Warrior to reach an unfavorable settlement in an ongoing infringement suit against a competitor — STX — which was selling the patented stick and still gets to sell it under the terms of the deal, according to the suit filed on Monday in federal court.
Football is steadily coming up with new ways of protecting those who play the game, while basketball watched its most recent attempt to “modernize” with a new synthetic ball fall flat on its face. Since the introduction of the first plastic lacrosse head in 1964, the pace of change has been frenetic.
The last 45 years have seen more advances in lacrosse equipment than was seen in all the centuries it was played before that landmark year. If not for the various ways plastic has been shaped and molded we would not be seeing the 100+ mile per hour shots, mind blowing saves, and insane dodges we see in today’s game. With the recent rule changes regarding heads, it will be interesting to see where this new technology takes the game.
Maybe this explains all the yelling and screaming in every one of Warrior’s TV commercials?
They should send over Nicky Polanco to “negotiate” a settlement. Send lawyers, guns, and money..get Warrior out of this.