On December 24th a Dutch court decided in favor of Upper Deck Panoceanic BV and Upper Deck International BV and overruled Konami’s termination of the its contract with Upper Deck designating Upper Deck as the exclusive distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in Europe.  The court found that the termination was unfounded and indicated that Konami should reinstate all aspects of the contract immediately.  The Dutch court’s ruling reaffirms Upper Deck International’s position as the exclusive distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game in Europe.

Earlier this week Upper Deck International filed suit in a Dutch court seeking an injunction against Konami’s termination of the Yu-Gi-Oh! license (see “Upper Deck, Konami Feud Spreads to Europe”).  Nico Blauw, the CEO of Upper Deck International, commentedon the court's preliminary ruling: “In these hectic economic times, this is a great Christmas present for our employees, our customers and the player base.”