Feb 09 2010 10:06 PM
Upper Deck releases its 2010 baseball card set. Team logos appear on many of the cards, apparently in violation of MLB properties decision to grant Topps an exclusive license to use team logos on 2010 cards.Z0rOHBL,ob(c50Q~~_12.JPG)
| Baseball card maker Upper Deck is facing a major league lawsuit. Major League Baseball sued the Carlsbad, Calif., company, accusing it of using the league's logos without permission and distributing unauthorized lines of trading cards. Upper Deck's cards improperly feature various sport and team logos, which were licensed six months ago to Topps, the filing said. The 58-year-old Topps was bought in 2007 by Tornante, the investment firm run by former Disney chief Michael Eisner. Some 2010 Upper Deck packaging features New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, and may confuse collectors because of its similarity to authorized packaging used in 2009, according to the suit. The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, also says Upper Deck "is on the verge" of distributing several other fake lines -- and claims that Upper Deck owes MLB $2.4 million. The lawsuit follows a legal settlement last week between Upper Deck and Konami Digital Entertainment. The Japanese firm had accused Upper Deck of illegally printing more than 600,000 Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards, which are based on an animated show that's wildly popular in Japan. According to reports, Upper Deck was forced to shell out millions of dollars in damages to Konami. A judge had called internal documents at Upper Deck "damning," saying they "detail blatant, improper, perhaps criminal, conduct by individuals at the top." Major League Baseball seeks to halt sales of unauthorized cards, and also seeks triple and punitive damages. "Upper Deck's current conduct is reflective of a pattern of utter disrespect for the contractual and intellectual property rights of those from whom it licenses valuable trademarks," the complaint said. An Upper Deck spokesman declined to comment on yesterday's suit, which specifically fingers unauthorized "Signature Stars" and "Ultimate Collection" lines of trading cards. |
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/g ... EGIJBY1jwN
For those "Holy Book" card collectors, Pat Misch is one of 20 Mets cards included in the 2010 UD set:
Misch is photographed from a vantage point that conveniently obscures all Mets logos: this card complies with MLB's logo ban without need for the dreaded airbrush.