A legal battle into claims that a law firm wrongly allowed the identity of cricket great Sir Donald Bradman to be exploited as a “brand name like Mickey Mouse” was settled out of court on Wednesday.
Bradman’s son, John, and two other executors of the late Australian Test captain’s estate sued law firm Allens Arthur Robinson alleging it was negligent in assigning the cricketer’s name to the Bradman Foundation, a non-profit charitable trust set up in 1987.
John Bradman’s displeasure became public in 2005 when the foundation licensed a food company to market “Bradman” chocolate chip cookies in India.
The family at the time described Bradman as “a loved and missed family member, not a brand name like Mickey Mouse”. The foundation countered that it had confidence Bradman would have approved of the venture.
After lengthy delays, the case was due to go to trial on Tuesday in the South Australian Supreme Court, but proceedings were again delayed as the parties entered negotiations. On Wednesday the court was told the parties had agreed to settle.
John Bradman said the terms of settlement were confidential and no further media comment would be made.
He told reporters outside the court he was pleased the legal battle was finally over. “This has been a long-running matter, which has been very important to the Bradman family and we are very pleased with the outcome,” he said.
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