New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar has settled his law suit in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia with Australian bat-maker, the Spartan Sports group of companies and its directors. In 2016, Tendulkar entered into a worldwide exclusive sponsorship agreement with one of the Spartan companies to promote Spartans sporting goods and sportswear.
Tendulkar alleged that the Spartan company failed to comply with its obligations under the agreement by failing to pay him royalties and endorsement fees as per the agreement signed by both parties and continued to use his name and image even after terminating the agreement.
Tendulkar provided his promotional services at various Spartan events in both Mumbai and London, including to promote the “Sachin by Spartan” line of products and he was unable to pursue other sponsorship opportunities for sporting goods and sportswear while the Spartan agreement was in place.
The claims made by Tendulkar in the law suit against a number of Spartan companies and their directors, Kunal Sharma and Les Galbraith, included claims of breach of contract, misleading and deceptive conduct and sought injunctions, damages as well as cancellation of trade marks featuring Tendulkar’s silhouette performing his signature square cut which were registered by another Spartan company.
As part of the settlement, a number of the Spartan companies have submitted to judgment against them and the Spartan group is permanently restrained by court orders from using Tendulkar’s name, image and likeness including to falsely suggest any endorsement by Sachin Tendulkar. Spartan has also cancelled the registered trademarks filed featuring Tendulkar’s silhouette.
Les Galbraith, on behalf of Spartan, stated: “Spartan sincerely apologises to Tendulkar for its failure to honour his sponsorship agreement and is grateful for Tendulkar’s patience in resolving this dispute. The Spartan companies also publicly acknowledge that Tendulkar has had no association with Spartan since 17 September 2018, when Tendulkar terminated their sponsorship agreement.”
Mrinmoy Mukherjee, CEO of Tendulkar’s management team, SRT Sports Management (SRTSM), noted: “Tendulkar is glad to be able to put this dispute behind him and to reach an amicable settlement with Spartan out of Court.”
Tendulkar’s lawyer, Siabon Seet, stated: “We are pleased to be able to resolve this action for Tendulkar who, as a beloved cricket legend, is entitled to the protection of his own name and image against false endorsement.”
