USA Pickleball Files Countersuit against JOOLA in Escalating Paddle De-Listing War

Thedink Pickleball 6 hours ago 6 views

USA Pickleball Association (USAP), the national governing body for the sport of pickleball in the United States, is now countersuing Sport Squad, Inc., the parent company of JOOLA.

On Friday, April 18, USAP filed a counterclaim in the $200 million lawsuit originally filed by Sport Squad, Inc. on June 12th, 2024.

Initial JOOLA Lawsuit

Sport Squad, Inc. is the holding company for JOOLA, and other sporting companies. From this point forward, JOOLA will be referenced.

The Dink covered the initial lawsuit in June 2024, when JOOLA sued USA Pickleball for damages related to USAP de-listing of the Gen3 model line.

The PicklePod covered the lawsuit with pro player (and former CEO of DUPR) Jill Braverman, as well:

Timeline of the initial JOOLA lawsuit

May 16, 2024 - Both USA Pickleball and JOOLA released statements regarding USAP de-listing the Gen3 and ALPHA series paddles
June 12th, 2024 - JOOLA officially filed a lawsuit against USAP for the de-listing

What was JOOLA asserting in the lawsuit?

Essentially, the lawsuit said that USA Pickleball didn't follow its own guidelines on de-listing paddles, by not honoring the 180 day "sunsetting period". This period allows manufacturers a six-month window to sell their "USA Pickleball Approved" paddles before becoming de-listed.

Because of this, JOOLA asserted that the company was negatively impacted and suffered monetary damages.

JOOLA sued USA Pickleball for $200 million—$100 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages.

Why this matters

The de-listing of JOOLA paddles by USA Pickleball caused waves throughout the pickleball scene. Recreational players were confused as to what was legal/illegal in USA Pickleball tournaments. Pro players were allowed to use them in certain tournaments, but not others.

This was not the only paddle with approval/de-listing issues. The Ronbus Ripple and the Vatic Pro Oni both had similar issues to the JOOLA Gen3 series.

Ultimately, JOOLA had to scramble to figure out how to sell the Gen3 line of paddles, once they were de-listed. As one of the largest paddle manufacturers in the game of pickleball, and the paddle brand that sponsors the largest number of professional players, this caused a huge issue.

Additionally, professional play was affected. The PPA Tour banned the Gen3 paddles at the CIBC Texas Open in late May/early June.

Professional player Christian Alshon had this to say about the paddles:

The Gen 3 Joola paddles are ruining pickleball at the professional (I say from experience) and recreational level (I hear constantly). It’s not Joola’s immediate fault but action must be taken. If I wanted trampoline effects on the court I would’ve stuck with tennis.

— Christian Alshon (@TweenerKing) May 20, 2024

Timeline since the initial JOOLA lawsuit

June 12, 2024 - JOOLA filed suit against USAP
June 13, 2024 - Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan was assigned to the case
July 3, 2024 - USAP filed a motion for Extension of Time to File Answer Move
July 8, 2024 - The Court awarded the motion for Extension of Time for USAP
July 9, 2024 - The case was reassigned to Judge Paula Xinis
July 22, 2024 - USAP filed a motion to dismiss the case
July 26, 2024 - JOOLA filed a motion for Extension of Time
August 19, 2024 - JOOLA filed a response to the motion to dismiss
August 30, 2024 - USAP filed a motion for Extension of Time to File Response
September 10, 2024 - USAP filed a response to JOOLA’s response
January 6, 2025 - A Motions Hearing meeting is scheduled for January 28, 2025
January 28, 2025 - Hearing took place to determine the USAP motion to dismiss
February 3, 2025 - The court denied the USAP motion for dismissal
March 27, 2025 - The court allowed USAP a Motion for Extension of Time to file a counterclaim - deadline was April 18th, 2025
April 18, 2025 - USAP files the counterclaim we are discussing in this article

USAP Countersuit

On April 18th, USAP filed a counterclaim against JOOLA. Philip Bartz, Office Managing Partner of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP), filed the motion as USAP’s attorney.

The counterclaim is 23 pages in length and goes into extreme detail on USAP’s assertions.

Assertions USAP is making in their counterclaim

JOOLA submitted prototype paddles in 2023 that passed the guidelines at the time, and were approved by USAP. These paddles had a “thin layer of foam around the upper rim”.

In 2024, when JOOLA launched the product line (known as Gen3), their marketing used the term “catapult effect” and USAP decided to investigate the paddles that were available on the market.

"In short, the publicly available paddles were not the same as the paddles submitted for approval. Instead, JOOLA had doubled (or more) the amount of foam in the mass-produced paddles. The paddles were also lower quality based on the irregular, expanding foam around the rim." -direct quote from the USAP countersuit

So, they cut into the paddles available for purchase and compared them to the prototypes that were submitted. There are two pictures showing the foam used in the paddles available on the open market, and being sold by JOOLA had two to three times the amount of foam around the edges than the originally submitted prototypes.

"On information and belief, JOOLA intentionally decided to abuse USAP’s approval process. Specifically, as explained below, JOOLA engaged in fraud to sell illegal paddles as “USA Pickleball Approved” although those paddles had never received USAP’s approval. -Direct quote from the USAP countersuit."

Essentially, USAP is countersuing JOOLA for fraudulent behavior in a ‘bait-and-switch’ tactic by submitting prototype paddles that were demonstrably different from the paddles that eventually made it to market.

"JOOLA engaged in fraud by securing USAP’s approval for one set of paddles, while mass-producing and selling differently constructed paddles under the same name for a top-of-the-market price. JOOLA’s whole gambit was a misguided attempt to gain a competitive advantage and excessive profits by falsely deceiving consumers that USAP had “approved” these illegal paddles when, in fact, USAP had not. -Direct quote from the USAP countersuit."

In the claim, USAP says the paddles that made it to market were never approved by USAP, because they were so different from the prototypes. Therefore, JOOLA used the “USA Pickleball Approved” stamp fraudulently.

"Initially, JOOLA dodged the issue. Next, JOOLA attempted to use strong-arm tactics of threatening litigation in the hope that USAP would back down, which USAP refused. Finally, JOOLA took the position that an “administrative error” had led them to submit different paddles to USAP in November 2023 from the ones they sold on the market in 2024." -direct quote from the USAP countersuit

What USAP is asking for in the countersuit

USAP is asking for the following (hold on tight, there is a lot of lawyer-speak here:

Award compensatory damages to USAP, including treble damages
Award USAP a disgorgement of JOOLA’s profits (sic), including treble damages
Award punitive damages to USAP against for JOOLA’s deliberate, contumacious, and fraudulent conduct
Enter a declaratory judgment that JOOLA misrepresented and/or labeled one or more paddles as approved by USAP without having been submitted for testing
Award USAP statutory pre-judgment and post-judgment interest on all applicable amounts listed above
Award USAP reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs

If you had to look up the word contumacious, don’t worry - we did too. It means “stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority”.

What does all this mean?

First off, what is “treble damages”?

According to Investopedia.com, treble damages is: A term that indicates a statute exists to award a prevailing plaintiff up to three times actual or compensatory damages.

Essentially, USAP is as asking for 3x the compensatory damages a jury finds reasonable. They are also asking for 3x a portion of JOOLA’s unjust profits. Additionally, they are asking for punitive damages.

Additionally, USAP is asking for a statement from the court essentially saying JOOLA misrepresented the paddles in question as USAP approved. Lastly, they are asking for all attorneys' fees they incurred for this entire lawsuit.

Statement to The Dink, from both sides of the suit:

A Statement from USA Pickleball on the Countersuit Filed Against JOOLA on Friday, April 18:

"As the National Governing Body of the sport of pickleball, we strive to uphold the standards and values of certifications, rules, and regulations to promote the integrity of the sport and fairness for all players. Filing this Counteraction was not a decision made lightly. It is, however, a necessary measure to defend USA Pickleball’s Intellectual Property and to safeguard the long-term health and integrity of the sport we all care about."

A Statement from JOOLA to The Dink on Friday, April 18:

"At this time, we respectfully decline comment on this matter."

Where we go from here

Time will tell what else will unfold in this case. This countersuit could have very large ramification for JOOLA, if a jury were to side with the USAP claim.

Speaking of the jury, this could result in a jury trial if the two sides do not come to an agreement.

What we do know - it doesn't look like this lawsuit is going away anytime soon. This trial could still take months, if not years, to decide in court.

As always, stay tuned to The Dink Pickleball newsletter and socials for all the pickleball breaking news.

Source: Thedink Pickleball

Anuncie Aqui / Advertise Here

Sua marca para o mundo Pickleball! / Your brand for the Pickleball world!

Read the Original Content on Thedink Pickleball

Disclaimer: Pickleball Unit is a Decentralized News Aggregator that enables journalists, influencers, editors, publishers, websites and community members to share news about Pickleball. User must always do their own research and none of those articles are financial advices. The content is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily reflect our opinion.