Konami has announced that it has resolved its litigation against The Upper Deck Company, Konami’s former distributor of its popular Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game.

A release says that the lawsuit was settled to Konami's satisfaction following opening statements during the trial in Federal Court in Los Angeles on January 26, 2010.
 
"At this point, Upper Deck doesn't have a lot of Life Points. We're talking about behavior that, from a defense attorney's standpoint, I can't defend and I am not going to defend," said attorney Richard Howell, who represented Upper Deck. “I'm here defending a counterfeiter. And now I have to deal with that issue."

Kazumi Kitaue, Chairman of Konami Digital Entertainment, said, “We are extremely pleased with the successful resolution of our case against Upper Deck. Konami's goal is and has been to protect Duelists from counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards and to protect the integrity of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. This goal was achieved when Upper Deck was prohibited for eternity from distributing counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards and from holding itself out as the authorized distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG."

KDE's Vice President of Card Business Yumi Hoashi added, “This entire situation came as a huge shock to us. As a company that has based their entire business model on producing authentic entertainment and sports licensed products, Upper Deck went against their very core beliefs by counterfeiting Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Cards. It was very disheartening to learn that a trusted business partner would take these actions to dupe us and the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG community."

Litigation began in October 2008, when Konami found out that counterfeit cards from the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG were being sold in Toys "R" Us stores by a sub-distributor for Upper Deck.