In a drawn-out legal battle against the company that bears his name, golf legend Jack Nicklaus has secured the right to use his own name, image and likeness. Nicklaus (the man) had sued the company he founded – Nicklaus Companies, LLC – to secure such rights. As first reported by multiple outlets including MSN, New York Civil Division Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen ruled in Nicklaus’ favor last week.
If that all sounds complicated, well, it is. Some background, as previously reported by Golfweek in 2024 after an arbitrator ruled in Nicklaus’ favor:
Nicklaus (the man) sold equity in Nicklaus Companies in 2007 to New York-based banker Howard Milstein, who has since acquired total ownership of the company, including the golf course design business once headed by the Golden Bear.
Nicklaus – who has designed more than 300 courses around the world – and Milstein fell out in recent years, and the winner of 18 professional major championships for the most part ended his participation with the company in 2017. His contract with the company included a five-year non-compete clause, and Nicklaus continued to work on behalf of Nicklaus Design until May of 2022. He was precluded during that period from designing courses on his own outside Nicklaus Companies.
In late 2022 Nicklaus began offering course-design services through his new company 1-JN, which operates through his family instead of Nicklaus Companies. Milstein had sought to prevent Nicklaus from using his own name and likeness as part of that new 1-JN business. The arbitrator ruled that Nicklaus “is now free to engage in the activities” once restricted by the contract’s covenants and to compete against the company that bears his name, activities that include among other things the design of golf courses and the solicitation of the Nicklaus Companies’ customers and employees. ...
Milstein has expanded his reach in golf in recent years and has acquired other golf-related businesses, including Golf Magazine, TrueSpec and a variety of golf equipment and service enterprises.
The media release from the Nicklaus team explains there are still conflicts between Nicklaus and Milstein. Nicklaus Companies have filed a lawsuit against the retired golfer in New York addressing similar issues under other agreements, but the judge in that case has denied the Nicklaus Companies’ request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Nicklaus the man from designing courses in his own name, finding was not enough evidence at that point to prove that Nicklaus Companies would prevail at trial.
In the latest ruling, Justice Cohen ruled that the Milstein-owned Nicklaus Companies still owns the trademarks for the company and can continue to do business, such as selling clothing and equipment with the Nicklaus name and logos, including “Golden Bear.” Nicklaus Companies can also continue to design golf courses under the Nicklaus banner without participation from Jack Nicklaus (the man). But Nicklaus can also design golf courses under his own name and likeness.
The battle isn’t over. Nicklaus has sued Milstein in a defamation case stemming from ...
