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| − | [[Image:Konami logo.png|thumb|Konami logo]]'''Konami''' is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games. | + | [[File:Konami logo.png|thumb|Konami's current logo.]] |
| | + | {{Wikipediapar}} |
| | + | '''Konami Group Corporation''' (コナミグループ株式会社 ''Konami Gurūpu Kabushiki-gaisha'') is a Japanese multinational entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo. Konami Group's subsidiary, '''Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.''', is the producer and distributor of the modern ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' card games (the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game]]'', the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game|Official Card Game]]'', and ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel|Rush Duel]]'') and [[List of official Yu-Gi-Oh! video games|all its video games]]. Konami Digital Entertainment also organizes official ''TCG''/''OCG'' tournaments. |
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| − | Konami manufactures the Asian version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, commonly known as the [[Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game|OCG (Official Card Game)]] and organize all OCG tournaments. Konami also produces all [[Yu-Gi-Oh!-related Video Games|Yu-Gi-Oh! video games]].
| + | [[Upper Deck Entertainment]] was formerly licensed to manufacture the ''TCG'' under Konami's direction, until losing the license in a [[Konami v. Upper Deck|lawsuit]] in 2009. |
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| − | [[Upper Deck Entertainment]] was formerly licensed to manufacture the worldwide version of the game, commonly known as the [[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game|TCG (Trading Card Game)]], under Konami's direction, until recently. | + | In 2012, Konami acquired the rights to dub future ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' anime from [[4Kids Entertainment]], having secured the related rights and assets in a joint operation with [[wikipedia:Saban Brands|Saban Brands]] and folding them into the '''4K Media''' department. Starting August 25, 2012, Saban aired ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL]]'' as well as other ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' programs as part of their [http://myvortexx.com/ Vortexx] block on Saturday mornings. |
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| − | == Case to gain control of the worldwide TCG ==
| + | In 2024, Konami announced the creation of an anime department, '''Konami Animation''', by unveiling the special video ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! CARD GAME THE CHRONICLES]]'' for the ''OCG''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s 25th anniversary. |
| − | On October 8, 2008 Konami filed a complaint in the United States District Court for Central California charging '''Vintage Sports Cards''' with distributing re-packaged Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Cards packages containing counterfeit rare cards.<ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13988.html icv2.com] Counterfeit 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Rares</ref><ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/2008/10/los-angeles-trademark-attorney-konami-trademark-litigation-yu-gi-oh-japanese-manga.html iptrademarkattorney.com] Copyright and Trademark Litigation Filed By Attorneys For Konami Over Sales Of Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Cards </ref> Konami was granted an injunction against Vintage, but during the discovery process Vintage supplied evidence to Konami alleging that '''Upper Deck Company, LLC''' (dba '''Upper Deck Entertainment''') was the source of the cards. Konami subpoenaed records from Upper Deck, but Upper Deck refused to comply with the subpoena, raising a legal objection.<ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/2009/03/upper_deck_enjoined_from_selli.html iptrademarkattorney.com] Upper Deck Enjoined From Selling Yu Gi Oh! Cards; Prescient Threats Of “Mutual Assured Destruction” In Counterclaims</ref>
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| − | On December 10, 2008, Upper Deck filed suit in the District of Nevada alleging Konami had breached its agreements, committed fraud and slandered Upper Deck.<ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/2009/03/upper_deck_enjoined_from_selli.html iptrademarkattorney.com] Upper Deck Enjoined From Selling Yu Gi Oh! Cards; Prescient Threats Of “Mutual Assured Destruction” In Counterclaims </ref> On December 11, 2008, '''Konami Digital Entertainment''', Konami's American branch, announced that they would be taking control of the TCG<ref>[http://www.yugioh-card.com/en/press/press_release_YGO.pdf yugioh-card.com] Konami to take control of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game</ref> after Upper Deck had stated that the allegations were false, and had threatened legal action, should Konami continue to broadcast this information.<ref>[http://shriektcg.twoday.net/stories/5392168/ Shriek.tcg.twoday.net] Open Letter from Upper Deck International.</ref> This was followed by Upper Deck filing suit in Amsterdam on December 16, 2008,<ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/2009/03/upper_deck_enjoined_from_selli.html iptrademarkattorney.com] Upper Deck Enjoined From Selling Yu Gi Oh! Cards; Prescient Threats Of “Mutual Assured Destruction” In Counterclaims</ref> and an injunction was scheduled for a hearing in the Netherlands between Upper Deck and Konami on December 22nd, 2008.<ref>[http://shriektcg.twoday.net/stories/5394532/ Shriek.tcg.twoday.net] Upper Deck files Injunction for 22nd December</ref><ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13913.html icv2.com] Konami Takes over 'YGO TCG'</ref><ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13969.html icv2.com] Upper Deck/Konami Feud Spreads to Europe</ref>
| + | == External links == |
| − | | + | * [https://www.konami.com/en/ Konami's official English website] |
| − | On December 24, 2008 a Dutch court decided in favor of '''Upper Deck Panoceanic BV''' and '''Upper Deck International BV''', the licensed distributor and organizer of the TCG in Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, which temporarily overruled Konami’s termination of the its contract with Upper Deck in those locations<ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13978.html icv2.com] Dutch Court Sides With Upper Deck</ref><ref>[http://shriektcg.twoday.net/stories/5407358/ Shriek.tcg.twoday] Upper Deck International BV wins injunction against Konami</ref>
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| − | Konami filed an amended complaint, adding Upper Deck as a co-defendant to the original suit against Vintage, alleging that Upper Deck was the source of said counterfeit cards.<ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14158.html icv2.com] Upper Deck Source of Counterfeit 'YGO' Cards?</ref>
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| − | In mid-January 2009 Upper Deck announced that Konami had not sent Champion Packs to them for distribution to hobby stores<ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14087.html icv2.com] No 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Champion Packs'</ref> and Konami immediately responded with the statement that the lack of availability of champion packs to Upper Deck was because Konami had terminated the contract between the two companies and that Konami was the only authorized distributor in North America.<ref>[http://shriektcg.twoday.net/stories/5449029/ Shriek.tcg.twoday] Konami Responds on "YGO TCG"</ref><ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14091.html icv2.com] Konami Responds on 'YGO TCG''</ref> Upper Deck, in turn, continued to make plans for product support,<ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14098.html icv2.com] Upper Deck Day</ref> and in late January 2009 again denied the counterfeiting charge.<ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14169.html icv2.com] Upper Deck Denies 'YGO' Counterfeiting Charge</ref>
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| − | Meanwhile the U.S. District Court in California had also followed up with a ruling on the preliminary injunction in favor of '''Upper Deck Company''', controller of the game in North America, which effectively temporarily stopped Konami's takeover of the worldwide version of the game.<ref>[http://shriektcg.twoday.net/stories/5412898/ Shriek.tcg.twoday] Upper Deck Wins Major Victory in Support of Worldwide Yu-Gi-Oh! Players</ref><ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13998.html icv2.com] Upper Deck Gets Favorable U.S. Ruling</ref><ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/konami-trademark-copyright-preliminary-injunction-attorney.pdf iptrademarkattorney.com] Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., et al. ''- v -'' Vintage Sports Cards, Inc., et al.</ref> Konami filed a renewed motion in the Califoria courts against Upper Deck and Vintage at this time, citing additional evidence.<ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/renewed-motion-preliminary-injunction-konami-upper-deck-yu-gi-oh-cards.pdf iptrademarkattorney.com] Notice of Motion and Renewed Motion for Preliminary Injunction Against the Upper Deck Company; Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support Thereof</ref>
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| − | [[Image:Hologram.png|thumb|Eye of Anubis hologram mark used on Yu-Gi-Oh! cards]]On February 26, 2009, the California court reversed its previous ruling and granted Konami a preliminary injunction against Upper Deck, ordering Upper Deck Company to stop using Konami's trademark, and to disassociate itself with the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG,<ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14421.html icv2.com] Konami Gets Injunction</ref><ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/Konami-preliminary-injunction-upper-deck-yu-gi-oh.pdf iptrademarkattorney.com] Order Granting Preliminary Injunction Against the Upper Deck Company</ref> which put Konami in charge of the TCG in North America. Upper Deck on the same day filed a trademark infringement suit against Konami in U.S. District Court in Nevada, claiming that the Eye of Anubis hologram mark on the lower right corner of Yu-gi-oh! cards serves as a trademark for Upper Deck.<ref>[http://www.vegastrademarkattorney.com/2009/02/upper-deck-sues-former-partner-konami.html vegastrademarkattorney.com] Upper Deck Sues Former Partner Konami Over Hologram</ref><ref>[http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/02/26/UpperDeck.pdf courthousenews.com] The Upper Deck Company, a Nevada corporation, Plaintiff, v. Konami Marketing Inc., a California corporation; and Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., an Illinois corporation, Defendants.</ref> Following this, in early March Upper Deck filed a counterclaim suit in the Central District of California, listing a number of charges including breach of contract, fraud, slander and civil conspiracy.<ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/2009/03/upper_deck_enjoined_from_selli.html iptrademarkattorney.com] Upper Deck Enjoined From Selling Yu Gi Oh! Cards; Prescient Threats Of “Mutual Assured Destruction” In Counterclaims</ref><ref>[http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/Upper-deck-konami-counterclaim-yu-gi-oh-distribution-agreement2.pdf iptrademarkattorney.com] The Upper Deck Company, a California corporation, Counterclaimant, v. Konami Marketing, Inc., a California corporation, and Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., an Illinois corporation; and DOES 1 through 10, Counterdefendants</ref>
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| − | On April 15, 2009, the Amsterdam High Court of Appeals overturned the injunction favoring Upper Deck International over Konami, and upheld the termination of Konami's relationship with Upper Deck in Europe and the rest of the world outside Asia and North America.<ref>[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14751.html icv2.com] Konami Wins Appeals Court Ruling</ref><ref>[http://www.upperdeck-international.com/tabid/56/language/en-US/Default.aspx?AnnouncementID=17 upperdeck-international.com] Upper Deck International strongly condemns any form of counterfeit</ref> This court ruling, along with the earlier California court ruling, gave Konami current control of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game worldwide. Future court decisions could again change the situation.
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| − | ==References==
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| − | <references/>
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| | [[Category:Companies]] | | [[Category:Companies]] |
Konami Group Corporation (コナミグループ株式会社 Konami Gurūpu Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese multinational entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo. Konami Group's subsidiary, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd., is the producer and distributor of the modern Yu-Gi-Oh! card games (the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, the Official Card Game, and Rush Duel) and all its video games. Konami Digital Entertainment also organizes official TCG/OCG tournaments.
Upper Deck Entertainment was formerly licensed to manufacture the TCG under Konami's direction, until losing the license in a lawsuit in 2009.
In 2012, Konami acquired the rights to dub future Yu-Gi-Oh! anime from 4Kids Entertainment, having secured the related rights and assets in a joint operation with Saban Brands and folding them into the 4K Media department. Starting August 25, 2012, Saban aired Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL as well as other Yu-Gi-Oh! programs as part of their Vortexx block on Saturday mornings.
In 2024, Konami announced the creation of an anime department, Konami Animation, by unveiling the special video Yu-Gi-Oh! CARD GAME THE CHRONICLES for the OCG's 25th anniversary.
External links[edit]
