RavensburgerThe highly anticipated new publisher Disney Princess trading card game, has released an official response to a lawsuit by a competitor Upper Deck. In it, the game and toy maker called Upper Deck’s lawsuit the “legal equivalent of alchemy” and demanded its immediate dismissal. The announcement, made Thursday in a news release, includes a 34-page legal response. But it also discredits one of the most powerful legal minds in the rare field of TCG law, Brian Lewis, whose work as general counsel at Wizards of the Coast helped pave the way for its current dominance belong to Magic: Gather — but also the broader ecosystem of modern trading card games in general.
To keep you up to date with current affairs, understand that Upper Deck’s lawsuit made quite a splash when it was revealed on June 7. In it, the issuer of the sports card, the game. playing and trading cards based in California alleges that Disney Princess co-designer Ryan Miller previously created a game that is “closer” to Disney Princess while under contract with Upper Deck. It also requires that the game’s launch, set for August of this year, be stopped when ordered.
Ravensburger vehemently opposed the Upper Decks’ claims. In its response, Ravensburger even questioned both the time and place of the lawsuit. Overall, it shows that Upper Deck’s efforts to design a competitive TCG are lazy and that its legal dispute is purely opportunistic.
“Upper Deck states that it will seek to return confidential information and/or prevent its employees from contacting Mr. Miller if they become aware of Mr. Miller’s employment at Ravensburger and the company’s work on a TCG. competition,” read the offer to dismiss. “But Upper Deck learned about Mr. Miller working with Ravensburger and working on Lorcana when the game was announced in September 2022. And despite that perception, Upper Deck did nothing. The High Deck cannot now lament that it has been damaged by its own inaction.”
This is a complicated legal case by any estimate and deals with issues of employment and non-compete agreements (or lack thereof). But at its core, this is a game mechanics lawsuit. So the addition of Lewis as legal counsel to Ravensburger is remarkable. That’s because Lewis, in his role with Wizards of the Coast in the 1990s and early 2000s, was instrumental in ensuring the original patents were protected. Magic release period. It is those patents and the legal work around them that have formed the regulatory framework for the global card game business. Without them, it’s unlikely that either Magic or any other successful TCG that would exist in a similar form as it does today.
“Ravensburger has an extremely compelling case here,” quoted Lewis in the press release, “and we expect it to be completely dismissed based on today’s petition. While we respect the valid intellectual property rights of others, this seems more like a PR stunt than a real legal dispute. I would also like to add that I have had the privilege of knowing Ryan Miller for over 20 years and consider him to be a person of the highest ethical standards.”
Lisa Krueger, senior communications manager for Ravensburger North America, said: “We are delighted to be proceeding with the legal process and feel very confident in our position. “In the meantime, our team is focusing on the upcoming launch. We’re excited to see everyone at Gen Con and can’t wait to see fans start buying this game in our store.”
For a deeper dive into the basics of Lewis’ more than three decades of work in the TCG space, check out Booster Pack Network’s 95-minute in-depth interview from January.
