Controversial golf ball ‘dimple’ court case

London, 27 January 1915 - The chancery Courts in London yesterday revoked a patent previously awarded to William Taylor for his ‘invention’ of a dimpled golf ball.

Mr. Taylor told the Court that his principal object in his design of his new golf ball was to obtain better results in its flight.

Evidence provided by Professor Vernon Boys to the Court  supported this claim. He concluded - following the undertaking of a range of experiments - that the dimpled surface of Mr. Taylor’s golf balls gave ‘an extremely satisfactory flight’ and that the the character of the marking put on the ball by Mr. Taylor constituted his invention and therefore warranted patent.

The Court ruled, however, that every one of the essential particulars that the patentee enumerated was found in the Fernie Golf Ball. It was found, therefore, that the patent failed and that there must be an order for its revocation.

A stay was granted pending appeal.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]