A German-founded table tennis and pickleball brand is using the US International Trade Commission to enforce patent claims against rivals spanning legacy manufacturers and newer entrants. An exclusion order, if granted, would remove the contested paddles from the US market.
Joola, the German-founded equipment brand with roots in table tennis and a growing position in pickleball, has filed a patent infringement complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) against 11 paddle manufacturers, seeking an order that would block imports of allegedly infringing products into the US.
The complaint, filed on April 7, targets what Joola describes as unauthorized copying of its proprietary propulsion core technology — a structural paddle construction method the company says is protected by US patent. The filing names Franklin Sports, Proton Sports, RPM Pickleball, Engage Pickleball, Friday Labs, Diadem Sports, Facolos, ProXR Pickleball, Paddletek, Adidas Pickleball and Volair as defendants, a group spanning both established manufacturers and newer market entrants.
An exclusion order would reshape the US paddle market
The ITC is a federal trade body with authority to block imports of goods found to infringe US intellectual property rights. If it grants the exclusion order Joola is seeking, the named brands would be barred from importing the contested models into the US — a significant commercial restriction given that most pickleball equipment is manufactured in Asia. Any order would apply only to future sales; paddles already in consumers’ hands would be unaffected. The specific models Joola is seeking to protect are the 3S, 3S Dual, Pro IV and Pro V.
Patent disputes are a feature of a maturing category
The filing reflects the accelerating commercialization of pickleball, which has grown rapidly from a recreational niche into a contested equipment category attracting investment from established sporting goods brands and specialist startups alike. IP disputes are a common inflection point in young sports equipment markets once a technology leader seeks to defend an early advantage. The breadth of Joola’s complaint — naming 11 defendants, including a brand associated with one of the world’s largest sporting goods conglomerates — indicates the company regards its core construction technology as a material competitive asset worth defending through trade enforcement rather than civil litigation alone.
About Joola
Joola was founded in Germany in 1952 as a table tennis equipment manufacturer. The company served as official table sponsor for major USA Table Tennis tournaments from 2012 to 2019, when it was acquired by Sport Squad, its US-based distributor and licensee for the North American and Brazilian markets. Joola entered the pickleball category in 2022. Its athlete roster includes Ben Johns, identified by the company as the world’s top-ranked men’s pickleball player.
