Court rules Upper Deck sold counterfeit cards - SportsGraphing.com

MidSouth Minors · 01-14-2010, 05:27 PM

Court Rules That Upper Deck Sold Counterfeit Yu Gi Oh! Cards :: Los Angeles Intellectual Property Trademark Attorney Blog

Since there has been so much discussion on copyright infringement lately on this site, here's a chance to view consequences as it unfolds. I'll allow for the legal professionals on this site to elaborate but it looks to me that all that's left to settle is the trial for damages to be awarded to Konami.

This case didn't seem to be brought up too much while UD lost their MLB and NBA licenses but I'm sure this had a lot to do with the decisions that were made.

MJ24 · 01-14-2010, 11:04 PM

Looks like NHL licensing could be up for grabs soon and same with NCAA that hasn't even started for them yet.

19Braves77 · 01-15-2010, 02:18 AM

You will hear about UD again in what they were going to do with a certain umbrella company. I imagine five years from now Upper Deck is just going to be another autograph outlet.

alanmoore · 01-15-2010, 07:39 AM

Yeah, breaking copyright laws is so cool. I want to sell my Kinkos photos of Shaq for $5 and then when I am sued for $20,000,000 act like I didn't know. LOL!

Imagine the deep pockets at UpperDeck and at the end of the day, this judgment could put the company out of business. PERIOD!

AutographMaster · 01-15-2010, 10:26 AM

The baseball card market is really monopolizing itself now...

First Donruss/Leaf/Pinnacle more than a decade ago, then Pacific, then Fleer/Skybox, then UD loses its license, now UD's probably going under.

At least if I had to pick the one card company that would stick around, it would be Topps.

alexsautographs · 01-15-2010, 08:13 PM

I wouldn't be very sad if UD went under.

MJ24 · 01-15-2010, 10:47 PM

I doubt they'll bounce right back - if at all, they owe a LOT of money to others that had nothing to do with this suit against them. Hearing from some they are up to six months behind in paying them.

MidSouth Minors · 01-27-2010, 03:30 PM

Upper Deck and Konomi settled out of court yesterday...

JANUARY 27, 2010 | ANTITRUST & TRADE REG.

Yu-Gi-Oh Case Is Yu-Gi-Over

By Ciaran McEvoy

Daily Journal Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES - The Upper Deck Co. ageed to pay an undisclosed sum to Japan-based Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. Tuesday to settle a counterfeiting lawsuit after acknowledging it produced hundreds of thousands of fake Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards.

The afternoon deal was struck after each side had given opening statements in a trial to determine damages. U.S. District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank excused the four-man, four-woman jury.

As part of the deal, Upper Deck agreed to a permanent injunction barring it from distributing the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game and to make a series of undisclosed payments to Konami. Previously, Upper Deck had been the exclusive distributor of the popular game.

Upper Deck's first settlement payment is due Friday and its last is due March 31, according to discussions in court.

Fairbank set a July 26 hearing to discuss an official dismissal of the lawsuit.

"We are pleased that it's over," said a grinning Benjamin J. Fox, a partner at Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles who represented Konami, outside Fairbank's courtroom. Konami had asked for at least $50 million and up to $150 million in damages.

"Upper Deck is extremely pleased with the cooperative resolution with Konami," said Richard K. Howell, a partner at Rutan & Tucker in Costa Mesa.

Before trial, Upper Deck conceded its printing and distribution of the approximately 611,000 phony cards violated trademark and copyright laws as well as unfair competition laws, according to court documents. The fake cards were printed in China in 2007, imported to the United States and distributed without Konami's authorization, court papers state. Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. v. The Upper Deck Co., CV 08-6630 (C.D. Cal.)

The counterfeiting stemmed from Upper Deck's agreement with its sub-distributors, which called for unsold Yu-Gi-Oh! products to be returned to Upper Deck. The card company repackaged the unsold cards with fake cards, which it marketed as "rare," in order to sell the product to consumers, according to court papers.

During pre-trial depositions, five current and former Upper Deck employees invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. One Upper Deck employee testified she witnessed the company's chairman Richard McWilliam shredding fake Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in his office after determining they did not look authentic enough, court papers state.

AutographMaster · 01-27-2010, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidSouth Minors

Yu-Gi-Oh Case Is Yu-Gi-Over

That's an awful article title, I hope that publication's editors are ashamed.

grapherazzi · 01-27-2010, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alanmoore

Yeah, breaking copyright laws is so cool. I want to sell my Kinkos photos of Shaq for $5 and then when I am sued for $20,000,000 act like I didn't know. LOL!

Imagine the deep pockets at UpperDeck and at the end of the day, this judgment could put the company out of business. PERIOD!

Kinkos prints photos? SWEET! Just kidding hahaa

MidSouth Minors · 01-27-2010, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AutographMaster

That's an awful article title, I hope that publication's editors are ashamed.

I groaned when I saw it as well. I hope at some time the settlement amount is leaked.

Now UD has to deal with what Topps may do once the 2010 UD Baseball cards hit the market. I don't see how Topps can do anything if UD doesn't use team names or logos but we'll see.

broncomaniac · 01-28-2010, 07:32 AM

Typical UD, anything to make a $. They don't care about anything. I hope they get axed with the NHL deal. Topps Attax had current photos, heck UD can't even update player moves with new sweaters for a year at times. QA is terrible, get the most damaged cards from them. Just had to mess around on the phone with a guy about getting my SPX Hedman replaced. Came out of the pack creased side to side through the jesey swatch. Had to be that way when the sticker autograph was placed on it. The guy didn't even know who Hedman was (to be useful, I think people in a QA role should know what consumers are talking about) or what product I was talking about. In my opinion, thay are a joke, hopefully the joke will end sooner than later. The raise prices and reduce hits approach has to catch up sooner or later. This almost makes you wonder what "GAME USED" means to UD. Maybe they will have some nice Tiger Woods game used condem wrappers from his stint in sex rehab.

MJ24 · 02-02-2010, 01:31 AM

Major League Baseball is the latest...they're suing Upper Deck.

MLB says Upper Deck cards is stealing trademarks - MLB - SI.com

MidSouth Minors · 02-02-2010, 11:55 AM

UD has taken the photos off of their site but check out the photo of the box top on Blowout's site:

http://www.blowoutcards.com/images/b...10udser1BB.jpg

UD didn't bother airbrushing the helmet. Yeah, there's a very small bit of logo showing but it might be enough.

Might want to start saving for the Upper Deck bankrupty sale. Didn't have any money for the Fleer auction.

JustCrazy · 02-02-2010, 01:08 PM

Maybe the Upper Deck sign memorabilia stuff will drop dramatically!