Upper Deck intends to sue Ravensburger and one of its former designers and has filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California (San Diego).
Upper Deck, a supplier of sports and entertainment games and collectibles, is taking action to sue Ravensburger and a previous Upper Deck game designer for (the company alleges) stealing and copying Upper Deck’s original game which it claims Ravensburger repackaged and marketed as Lorcana.
Upper Deck claims that an individual who used to work for them moved to a role at Ravensburger, and took with him a game design Upper Deck paid him to create, using those designs to develop a competing trading card game for a competitor, “aided and encouraged by Ravensburger, who now seeks to profit from the stolen intellectual property.” Upper Deck believes these acts give rise to a host of causes of action under California and federal law.
“We invested significant time and resources to develop a new and novel trading card game. Our current leadership values the importance of protecting intellectual property of both Upper Deck and its licensors,” said Upper Deck president Jason Masherah.
“We want gamers and fans to continue enjoying and having access to unique, innovative and immersive trading card games,” he added. “We encourage competition in the industry, but also strongly believe in playing by the rules to ensure the gaming community benefits from the different creative choices by each manufacturer.”
The company said in a statement that it has set the unmatched industry standard for quality, authenticity, and innovation and continues to bring generations of fans closer to their favourite athletes and characters with unique and authentic sports and entertainment product offerings, as well as its digital trading ecosystem. The company prides itself on creating collectibles that produce invaluable experiences for sports and entertainment’s most dedicated and loyal fans, with a goal to deliver excellence to the community across the most coveted properties as a means to develop memorable moments for collectors of all kinds.
Toyworld has contacted Ravensburger for its reaction, and a spokesperson commented: “Ravensburger has not been served with a complaint and thus cannot speculate on potential legal matters. We at Ravensburger stand behind the integrity of our team and the originality of our products.”
The first set from the collectible trading card game (TCG) Disney Lorcana is due to be released in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg from August 2023.
