JOOLA and Paddletek Settle Patent Dispute

Last month, JOOLA shook up the entire pickleball industry by filing a lawsuit against 11 paddle brands.

Now we’re seeing the litigation pressure result in one of the first settlements between JOOLA and Paddletek.

As part of the agreement, both Paddletek and ProXR Pickleball will add JOOLA's propulsion core patent number to their relevant products and pay royalties. Paddletek and ProXR Pickleball may continue to sell through and phase out the affected products through the fall.

"We are grateful Paddletek and ProXR Pickleball chose to resolve this matter in a spirit of mutual respect," said Richard Lee, CEO of JOOLA. "This is what principled competition looks like. Both companies have deep roots in this sport and we appreciate their willingness to acknowledge JOOLA's Intellectual Property."

"We take intellectual property protection seriously and rely on it in our own business with a multitude of our own patents and trademarks" said Ron Saslow, CEO of Paddletek Group. "We are pleased to have worked with the team at JOOLA cooperatively to reach a fast resolution on these disputed claims that allows us to stay focused on what matters most—supporting our consumers, our distributors, and our world-class athletes. Fortunately, this matter involves a limited portion of our products. We look forward to launching numerous new products outside of this technology."

This is just the first major settlement after the bombshell litigation. It will now continue against the remaining respondents named in the filing. 

It’s expected that similar settlements will play out amongst the other brands, but only time will tell on how the deliberations unfold. It’s likely many brands may want to take Paddletek’s approach to put this chapter behind them and focus on creating quality paddles for its consumers.