AWM’s PerfectSwell pools include facilities in Waco, Texas, Brazil, and Japan. Photo: Jackson Dorian//Instagram.
A poached engineer. Threatening letters. An ensuing legal battle. Bad blood is pulsing through the world of wave pools as two key industry players grapple over technology patents. The confrontation between American Wave Machines (AWM) and Endless Surf has gone largely under the radar, but it might soon create ripple effects felt by the end consumer – surfers.
After Endless Surf received patent infringement warnings from American Wave Machines in 2022, Endless Surf set out to invalidate the patents in question. The legal proceeding, called an “inter partes review,” resulted in a decision that both parties are, confusingly enough, claiming as victory. AWM issued a press release in late November celebrating the outcome against WhiteWater West Industries (the parent company of Endless Surf). The four patents in question were upheld by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. However, one of the patents regarding the sequencing of air chambers to generate waves contained claims that were invalidated, which Endless Surf hailed as a success.
When reached for comment, neither AWM nor Endless opted to respond to questions outside of their statements. According to AWM’s statement, “PerfectSwell’s style of sequenced peeling waves and others remain covered by AWM’s patents.” In other words, they essentially believe Endless Surf’s technology is a knock off that infringes on their patents. On the other hand, Endless Surf’s statement accuses AWM of sending threatening letters to its stakeholders. They argue they were in the pneumatic wave generating business 15 years before AWM’s technology existed and the ruling indicates that AWM’s sequential wave generating patents “should never have been granted” and are “invalid.” They add that the parts that remain of the key patent in question relate to older technology that Endless Surf doesn’t utilize.
The key patent in question (referred to as 966) is called “sequenced chamber wave generator apparatus and method.” It’s a part of the technology used in AWM’s PerfectSwell pools that you see at Boa Vista Village in São Paulo, Waco Surf in Texas, and Surf Stadium in Japan. In layman terms, pneumatic technology uses pressurized air chambers that transfer energy to the water to create waves. How you sequence the chambers is what creates the various types of waves that you can surf. Endless Surf, whose first pool is going to open soon in Munich, Germany, uses pneumatic technology as well. The application of pneumatic technology in wave pools dates back more than a half century.
The four patents involved in the challenge are generally connected to the sequencing technology. While the 966 patent had holes punched in it, a different sequencing patent, 263, was upheld. Another upheld patent relates to damping waves in a pool.
The quarrel dates back at least to 2022 when AWM sent cease-and-desist letters to, according to one source, around a dozen stakeholders involved with Endless Surf projects. As a result, Endless Surf pursued legal action to invalidate AWM’s patents. Endless Surf also rallied other pneumatic wave pool companies to publicly support them, namely Surf Loch, Murphy Waves, and Aquatic Development Group.
While Endless Surf has a slew of development projects in the works, including in Houston, Coachella Valley, Australia’s Gold Coast, Lisbon, and Saudi Arabia, they still do not have any completed pools open for the public. O2 SurfTown MUC in Munich will be the first in 2024.
That begs the question, how did AWM know that Endless Surf’s yet-to-be-released technology infringes on their patents? And why did they single out Endless Surf when there are other pneumatic technologies? Endless Surf claims they offered to let AWM review its technology to “demonstrate non infringement,” but AWM declined. AWM’s concern about Endless Surf’s technology could be the result of information leaked from pool developers, or it could be due to an engineer who has worked for both sides.
Endless Surf’s Chief Technology Officer is a Frenchman, Clement Ginestet. On their website they call him the “mastermind” behind their programming technology. Before joining Endless Surf, Ginestet was previously an engineer at AWM for nearly nine years – starting as an intern in 2011 and becoming an engineer from 2011 through 2019. According to Ginestet’s LinkedIn, he left AWM in November 2019, then joined Endless Surf one month later in December. Endless Surf was launched in early 2020. Is that a coincidence? AWM likely doesn’t think so, given they suspect Endless Surf is creating a copy of their PerfectSwell technology. When searching for answers, both parties declined to elaborate. When we reached Surf Loch CEO Thomas Lochtefeld for clues, he said that he could not comment on any of the specifics of this patent issue, but he did mention that Surf Loch uses “different pneumatic technology unrelated to AWM or Endless Surf.”
Regardless of how the conflict started, the million dollar question is if Endless Surf can use its technology in the U.S. without infringing on AWM’s patents. It’s a question we may not have an answer to until Endless Surf’s first U.S. park, HTXsurf in Houston, is operational in 2025. Beach Street, the developer behind the project, didn’t respond to request for comment on if the patent outcome will affect its plans.
It’s worth noting that both companies are no strangers to litigation. WhiteWater owes nearly a million dollars to ProSlide Technology Inc. after a 2023 decision determined WhiteWater infringed on two patents related to water slide parks. AWM has previously brought lawsuits upon (the now failed) Surf Ranch Florida in 2022 and the company behind City Wave standing wave technology in 2013.
As the wave pool industry keeps close tabs on how this conflict plays out, it could produce lasting effects. One industry source we spoke with says this patent challenge will emphasize that any developer looking to purchase a particular wave pool technology will make sure there is an “ironclad” agreement that removes any liability from the developer if the technology infringes on a patent. It would not be unreasonable to speculate that it could cause a developer to go shopping for wave pool technology elsewhere if there is the looming threat of lawsuits. Endless Surf is clearly conscious of this potential fallout, saying, “investors and clients should not be alarmed by the AWM narrative.” And what about us surfers, the consumers? If major surf park players are busy allocating resources to legal battles – or have technology that is deemed to infringe on patents – one can imagine that will slow down the proliferation of surf park projects and create less opportunity to surf a wave pool.
Given the polar opposite conclusions that both parties drew from the patent challenge, this is definitely not the end of this war. It’s just a battle that has set the stage for what is to come next. All eyes will be on Houston when the first Endless Surf waves test the waters of U.S. patent law, proving which party in this squabble is in right, and which is in the wrong.
