American Wave Machines (AWM), the Solana Beach, California company behind the PerfectSwell wave system, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against WhiteWater West Industries, the Canadian parent company of Endless Surf, based in Richmond, British Columbia. AWM announced the suit on 1 October 2026. It was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida and concerns the Endless Surf system being installed at a surf park under construction in Fellsmere, Florida: The Point.
What is being claimed
Both systems are pneumatic: banks of air chambers push water out in a timed sequence, and the timing shapes the wave. According to The Inertia, the suit alleges that Endless Surf's technology infringes two AWM patents, known as 966 and 263, related to the sequencing of pneumatic chambers to create waves.
The two companies have fought over these patents before. The Inertia reports that in 2024 WhiteWater tried to invalidate both through an inter partes review, a US Patent Office process for challenging whether a patent should stand. Patent 966 was weakened and 263 was upheld, and both sides called the result a win. The Inertia also notes that Endless Surf's chief technology officer worked at AWM for nearly nine years, left in late 2019 and was later hired by WhiteWater.
AWM's president, Bruce McFarland, said in the company's announcement that the action is needed to protect its patented technology and "a fair and lawful marketplace for original inventors." In a statement reported by The Inertia, WhiteWater said surf technology was built over decades by generations of engineers, designers, operators and entrepreneurs whose contributions predate the patents in the suit, and Endless Surf stands by its position that AWM's patents are invalid.
Which parks use Endless Surf
Of the 92 parks in our directory, 17 run or plan to run Endless Surf. The three that are open are all outside the United States: O2 SurfTown MUC near Munich, and ADRENA and Aquarabia in Saudi Arabia. In the US, seven Endless Surf projects are in the pipeline and none is open yet:
- The Point, Fellsmere, Florida: under construction, the park the suit concerns.
- Shell Point, Panama City Beach, Florida.
- Draper Surf Park, Utah.
- PHX Surf, Maricopa, Arizona.
- Hidden Lake Surf Resort, Arizona.
- Thermal Beach Club, California.
- Neptune Beach Surf Club, Alameda, California.
In the US, PerfectSwell runs at Waco Surf in Texas; Skudin Surf at American Dream in New Jersey is temporarily closed, and Zion Shores in Utah is under construction.
What it means for The Point
For now, nothing visible has changed. On 7 October The Point's site still said "opening soon" with the surf basin date to be announced, and its booking platform still showed "bookings coming soon", the same as in late September. AWM's announcement does not say what remedy it is asking the court for, and neither its announcement nor WhiteWater's statement says whether the case could affect the opening.
Good to Know
If you are planning a trip around The Point, the signal to watch is unchanged: the day sessions go on sale at booking.thepointsurfpark.com. Our opening date tracker is updated as soon as that happens, and our technology comparison explains how Endless Surf and PerfectSwell differ in the water.
