A patent fight over artificial surf prompts Southern California to ask who holds the rights to the original

Wave Pool Lawsuit Leaves Malibu Wondering Who Owns the Concept of a Wave

MALIBU, Calif. – The artificial surf industry went to court this week to settle the question of which company is the rightful inventor of making water go up and then fall over, a dispute that Southern California surfers have followed with the detached interest of people who get theirs free. According to SurferToday’s report on the American Wave Machines lawsuit against WhiteWater, the California firm behind PerfectSwell has filed a patent infringement suit over the Canadian firm’s Endless Surf system, including a 10.5-acre surf park under construction in Fellsmere, Florida. WhiteWater rejects the claims, and the court has not yet ruled on anything.

At Surfrider Beach the news arrived during a flat spell, which gave it room to circulate. “So two companies are fighting about who thought of the wave,” said Randy Okafor, chairman of the Malibu Lineup Standing Committee on Things That Are Obvious. “I respect that. I would only point out that there is a third party with a prior claim, which has been generating swell since before patents, and which has never once sent an invoice.” Okafor gestured at the Pacific, which declined to comment.

The Moon Retains Counsel

By Wednesday the committee had voted nine to two to file a counterclaim on behalf of the Moon, which members describe as “the original pneumatic chamber.” A second filing names the wind as co-inventor. The two dissenting votes came from longboarders who felt the reef at First Point deserved separate credit for the shape. The matter was tabled when a waist-high set arrived and the meeting adjourned without a motion.

Legal observers say the committee’s case faces obstacles. The Moon has no registered agent in California, has never filed with the patent office and has been publicly demonstrating its technology for roughly four billion years, which under most readings counts as prior disclosure. “It is a strong position morally and a weak one procedurally,” said Denise Vallarta, a Santa Monica attorney who handles disputes between surfers and reality. “Also the Moon is 238,000 miles away, which complicates service.”

What Each Side Says It Came Up With

Both pool systems use air pressure and a row of chambers fired in sequence to produce programmable surf. The Florida project is expected to use 36 of them. To help the public follow the dispute, the Standing Committee published a plain-language summary of the competing claims:

• Company A: we thought of using air to push water in a certain order
• Company B: people have been using air to push water in an order for decades
• The Moon: I use gravity and I do the whole planet twice a day
• Guy at Zuma with a boogie board: I was here first

A poll of 300 surfers conducted in the Surfrider parking lot found that 71 percent sided with the Moon, 18 percent sided with whichever company would let them surf for free, and 11 percent asked whether the survey taker had seen their other flip-flop.

Why Inland America Is Paying Attention

For readers who have never seen one, SurferToday offers a patient explainer on how wave pools work, covering the machinery that lets a landlocked county produce a head-high left on a schedule. This is the part that unsettles Malibu. A wave that arrives on time, breaks the same way and can be booked online removes the three pillars of California surf culture: waiting, complaining and telling someone they should have been here yesterday. “If it is always good, what do we talk about?” Okafor asked. “The whole sport is ninety percent forecast grievance.”

Local shapers are watching closely for a different reason. If a wave can be patented, several believe a bottom turn might be next. One Ventura board builder has reportedly begun documenting his cutback with dated photographs and a notary. Another has trademarked the phrase “outside” and intends to collect a royalty each time it is shouted, which on a good day at Rincon would make him the wealthiest man in the county by lunch.

Florida, Unbothered

In Fellsmere, construction is said to be continuing. Residents there have greeted the prospect of an ocean arriving by truck with equanimity, on the grounds that Florida has seen stranger. A county official noted that the surf park sits not far from an actual inlet with actual waves, and that visitors will soon be able to choose between a free one with sharks and a paid one with lawyers.

A Sympathetic Hearing in Britain

The case has drawn interest in the United Kingdom, where arguing over who came up with something is a national pastime and the sea is mostly a rumour. The London Prat, which has published British satirical news about lawyers since 1961, observed that English law has a long tradition of two parties spending more on a dispute than the thing is worth. Its London satirical news on leisure notes that the capital’s nearest surf is a boat wake on the Thames, ownership of which is also contested.

Back at First Point, the Standing Committee has agreed to drop its counterclaim if both companies admit, in writing, that the ocean did it first. Neither has responded. The Moon rose over the Santa Monica Mountains on Friday evening at its usual hour and, according to witnesses, looked like it knew exactly what it was doing. Bohiney Magazine has requested the tide chart as an exhibit.

SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/