archie17 Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Upper Deck settles counterfeiting case By PETER LAURIA Last Updated: 1:34 PM, January 29, 2010 Posted: 12:57 AM, January 29, 2010Baseball-card company Upper Deck, which made its name with products that were more difficult to fake, has settled a counterfeiting lawsuit of its own. Upper Deck is scheduled to make the first of two multi-million-dollar payments today to Konami Digital Entertainment, the Japanese owner of the wildly popular Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Konami sued Upper Deck last year, accusing it of illegally printing more than 600,000 Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards, which are based on an animated show in Japan. The Carlsbad, Calif.-based company had a distribution deal with Konami dating back to 2002, but allegedly began making and selling fake Yu-Gi-Oh! products on the side. The settlement amount is confidential, but Konami had been seeking between $50 million and $150 million in damages. Upper Deck executives, including Chief Executive Richard McWilliams, took the Fifth in court, refusing to answer questions about their involvement in the fraud. But as part of the settlement, the company admitted that it willfully counterfeited the cards. Upper Deck makes most of its money from trading cards, and there has been widespread speculation that this case could severely hurt its financial health. Some believe the company is on the brink of bankruptcy. Beyond the actual settlement payments, Upper Deck could lose sales because of the hit to its reputation. The company has licensing deals with the NFL, NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball. It certainly won't be selling Yu-Gi-Oh! anymore -- Upper Deck agreed to a permanent injunction that prevents the company from distributing the cards. "Konami's main goal was to have the truth come out, and we're pleased that what happened with the cards has been revealed," said Ben Fox, a partner at Morrison & Foerster representing Konami. Calls to Upper Deck were not returned. Rutan & Tucker lawyer Richard Howell, who represented Upper Deck in the Konami case, declined to comment. After trading lawsuits and motions for over a year, Upper Deck and Konami agreed to a binding settlement at the start of a trial to determine damages earlier this week. The second payment is due March 31. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PikaPerson01 Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Okey dokey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Berserker- Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 I hope Phoenix Wright represents Konami. Him, or Harvey Birdman... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byak Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 'Kay, so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archie17 Posted January 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 I hope Phoenix Wright represents Konami. Him' date=' or Harvey Birdman...[/quote'] There's nothing to represent, Konami already won. They had Upper Deck admit they made fake cards, and made them pay damages to them in the multi-millions and Upper Deck will never make YGO cards ever again. It serves Upper Deck right, for making a batch of Ultimate Rares beyond the allotment Konami provided, just to try and cash in on the secondary market. Greedy buggers. I think this behavior started when they made there own version of the Seal of Orichalchos and then thought they can make any cards/amounts they wanted too because they are the U.S./Worldwide source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Unclean One: VK Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 I hope Phoenix Wright represents Konami. Him' date=' or Harvey Birdman...[/quote'] That would mean they would have the ultimate lawyer. O, rite... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daboss144 Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 So about this thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Frostpaw Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 I knew they were fakes from the beginning. I bought the packs anyway. The cards in the packs were real, which is why I bought them. I pulled a Secret Herk. This was before TDGS was even in English. The funny thing is, the former judge at my lolocals said they were real cards, even though they were obviously fakes, which I was constantly pointing out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Borg Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 About time this is over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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