MLB Properties assures legal action in statement on Upper Deck's latest baseball card sets
Major League Baseball Properties issued a statement to Beckett Media on Friday regarding a pair of 2009 baseball card sets from Upper Deck that use MLB logos as part of the cards, despite Topps‘ role as the exclusive licensee of MLB.
“We are surprised and disappointed that Upper Deck, a former partner of ours, would violate our contract by clearly using our intellectual property without our permission,” said the statement issued by Matt Bourne MLB’s Vice President of Business Public Relations.
“We will vigorously use all legal means to protect the intellectual property of Major League Baseball and its member Clubs.”
Upper Deck is licensed solely by the MLB Players Association, not MLB Properties. The products that MLB is addressing are 2009 Ultimate Collection and 2009 Signature Stars, which carry statements that the cards are not authorized by MLB but also do not obscure team logos in the photographs.
Representatives for both Topps and Upper Deck have declined to comment on the matter.
We’ll have more on this story as it develops.
(Click on the link above to read our story from Thursday.)
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Graded Card Investor. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
[…] […]
Sounds good to me. Did Upper Deck just want to get out this product, make some $$$, and then deal with the repercussions later? I guess they could do a “sorry, we won’t do it again” but it shouldn’t come without a penalty.
Good. Upper Deck knew full well what they were doing when they produced these cards. It seems to me that they didn’t think they’d survive too long after the Konami lawsuit with just two licences and decided to go out in a blaze of glory. I’m sure that a lawsuit from Topps isn’t far behind.
If they are talking about Upper Deck Ultimate Collection then I am going to have to side with UD. That product is insanely amazing and collectors should be happy. Thanks UD for an awesome product and good luck in court
What exactly is a pingback and why do I keep seeing them in the comments? They don’t seem to be of any benefit.
[…] courtroom will probably not be over as Major League Baseball Properties has already thrown out an opening salvo in a oncoming licensing dispute. I’ll be sure to write more about this upcoming Baseball card […]
[…] A lawsuit is brewing between Upper Deck and […]
[…] response of Major League Baseball was swift. In a statement released on Jaunary 28th, MLB announced that they “were surprised and disappointed that Upper Deck, a former partner of ours, would […]