Court Enters Order Against Former Callaway Golf Ball Executive Mark King / Callaway Golf Ball Company to Seek Appellate Relief to Prevent 'Inevitable Disclosure

CARLSBAD, Calif. (PROTEXT) - A Superior Court Judge in Vista, California, signed and entered a preliminary injunction today against Mark King, the former Vice President, Sales, of Callaway Golf Ball Company. The court order requires that "Mark King and all those acting in concert with him are hereby restrained and enjoined from using, disclosing, copying or transmitting any trade secrets of Callaway Golf Ball Company regarding the design, manufacture, sale and marketing of golf balls." Callaway Golf Ball Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY), sued Mr. King after he attempted to join a competitor, Taylor Made Adidas Golf. Callaway Golf Ball asked the Court to issue an order preventing Mr. King from disclosing or using Callaway Golf Ball's trade secrets. Callaway Golf Ball also asked the Court to order that Mr. King not commence work for Taylor Made until there was a full hearing on Callaway Golf Ball's breach of contract claims before an arbitrator, as required by the written employment agreement between Callaway Golf Ball and Mr. King. Callaway Golf Ball believes that Mr. King's actions, including things he had done as an officer of Callaway Golf Ball while actively pursuing a job at Taylor Made, proved that he could not be trusted to preserve the confidentiality of Callaway Golf Ball's secrets absent a court order. Callaway Golf Ball also believes that it would be inevitable that Mr. King would use or rely upon information obtained while working at Callaway Golf Ball in his new position, even if he did not explicitly disclose such information to others. The Court granted the injunction against Mr. King's use or disclosure of Callaway Golf Ball's information. However, it did not order that Mr. King forego reporting to work at Taylor Made. "We are pleased that the Court has issued an order preventing the disclosure or use of our confidential information by Mr. King," said Steve McCracken, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Callaway Golf. "As a result of this action by the Court, Mr. King operates in his new position at his own peril, and he must be careful not to use or disclose our information in any way. We intend to watch this very closely." "We also intend to appeal that part of the Court's ruling that permits Mr. King to commence work at Taylor Made," Mr. McCracken continued. "We intend to establish in the appellate courts that the legal doctrine of 'inevitable disclosure' -- which is recognized in many jurisdictions outside California -- is the law in this state as well. We are prepared to pursue this matter to the California Supreme Court, if necessary." The Court's written order was signed four days following a telephonic ruling by the Court on September 23, 1999. At that time Taylor Made issued a press release announcing the portion of the Court's ruling that permitted Mr. King to commence work at Taylor Made. However, the Taylor Made press release failed to note that the Court had granted Callaway Golf Ball's request for a preliminary injunction against Mr. King's use or disclosure of confidential information. "Taylor Made's September 23, 1999 press release may have given some people, including some of our shareholders, the impression that our litigation against Mr. King had not been successful to date," said Ely Callaway, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Callaway Golf. "In my opinion, Taylor Made's press release creates a misleading impression, and I would like to set the record straight. We have obtained a written court order against Mr. King 'and all those acting in concert with him' -- an order which cannot be ignored by either Mr. King or his new employer. Our victory in obtaining this court order shows that we have acted diligently and prudently to protect the Company's trade secrets and to insure the sanctity of the Company's contracts -- and we intend to continue to pursue our legal rights." For more information abut Callaway Golf Company, please visit the Company's website on the Internet at www.callawaygolf.com. ots Original Text Service: Callaway Golf Ball Company Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Larry Dorman of Callaway Golf, 760-931-1771 Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/124825.html or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 124825 Web site: http://www.callawaygolf.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT

Služby, turistika, zábavní průmysl
Sport