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Major League Baseball Sues Trading Card Producer Donruss.

NEW YORK, January 21, 2009 -- Major League Baseball brings lawsuit against sports trading card producer alleging trademark infringement, trademark dilution, trade dress infringement and misappropriation of player images.

Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. ("MLBP") filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Donruss Playoff, L.P. and Donruss LLC (collectively "Donruss"). MLBP is owned indirectly by the 30 major league teams, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, and the affiliates and subsidiaries thereof and acts as a licensing clearinghouse for Major League Baseball's intellectual property rights.

MLBP executed two contracts with Donruss in 2003 and 2005 granting licenses to Donruss to produce sports trading cards featuring player names and images. These contracts explicitly stated that Donruss could not use any intellectual property belonging to Major League Baseball without the prior written permission of MLBP.

In 2008, Donruss produced a new line of trading cards named "Threads" depicting major and minor league players wearing variations on their uniforms despite the expiration of the aforementioned contracts.

The complaint states MLBP derived over $100 million from baseball card licensing in the past ten years.

In addition to the aforementioned claims, MLPB also pled causes of action based on unfair competition and breach of contract.

It is estimated that wholesale sales of licensed Major League Baseball merchandise in the past ten years exceeded $100 billion domestically.