American Sniper Chris Kyle’s widow got court approval of a settlement with a group of Texas investors, enabling Mr. Kyle’s family to claim the rights to a skull-shaped logo used by her husband’s business and to remain in their Midlothian home, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The settlement, signed late last week by Bankruptcy Judge Barbara Houser, signals the end of a battle among Taya Kyle, hedge fund manager Kyle Bass and executives at Chris Kyle’s business after he was fatally shot on a gun range in early 2013 by a fellow Iraq War veteran. Under the deal, the SWAT team-training business called Craft International LLC will hand over the rights to its skull logo, which is imprinted on T-shirts, patches and coffee mugs and surrounded by these words: “Despite what your momma told you, violence does solve problems.” Half of the training company’s $900,000 in revenue in 2013 came from apparel sales, according to court papers. And when Hollywood filmmakers decided to make a movie about Kyle’s life — a surprise blockbuster at the box office earlier this year — that announcement fueled speculation about whether the logo could become even more valuable. Kyle founded Dallas-based Craft International in 2009 after leaving the military, but it struggled to make money and filed for bankruptcy last May. After his death, some investors who extended a $2.6 million loan to the business proposed to take over Kyle’s inherited ownership instead of loan repayment.
