Ravensburger is being sued for allegedly having "repackaged" a rival card game as the upcoming Disney Lorcana.
In a press release, it was announced that Upper Deck (the company behind card games like Legendary, Vs. System, Dark Legacy, and more) would be seeking legal action against board games company Ravensburger and a former Upper Deck designer for "stealing and copying Upper Deck’s original game which Ravensburger repackaged and marketed as Lorcana." More specifically, the complaint suggests that the rules for Disney Lorcana and an unannounced game from Upper Decks called 'Rush of Ikorr' are "nearly identical."
According to the complaint, designer Ryan Miller worked on Rush of Ikorr before using that information to develop Disney Lorcana at Ravensburger. More specifically, "Miller had direct access to Upper Deck’s confidential, proprietary information, including, without limitation, Rush of Ikorr draft rules, concepts, components, designs, marketing strategies, and plans for implementation. On information and belief, Miller maintained access to these things even after terminating his relationship with Upper Deck and used, referenced, and/or otherwise relied on them to create Lorcana for Ravensburger."
According to the complaint, Upper Decks is seeking damages as well as "injunctive relief enjoining Ravensburger from publicly releasing Lorcana." To translate, this would prohibit Ravensburger from launching Disney Lorcana.
"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," says Upper Deck president Jason Masherah after noting that "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."
We've asked Ravensburger for comment.
It's been a mixed week for Ravensburger - this follows the announcement that one of the best Disney movies is finally coming to the Villainous board game.
