As of late the Walt Disney company has found itself in multiple legal battles that have put a rather noticeable black eye on the company’s financials. The biggest one being the war with Florida Governor Ron DeSanits for control over the formerly named Reedy Creek District.

Now the Disney name seems to have found itself involved in another battle, this time with trading card company Upper Deck over copyright infringement. The issue at hand being the upcoming trading card game ‘Disney Lorcana‘ by game company Ravensburger. They claim that the game’s co-designer stole their concepts for the upcoming Disney game.



Officially revealed at the 2022 D23 Expo the game is a mix of Disney and its classic characters and IPs with the world of trading cards, more specifically games like Magic: The Gathering and the Pokemon Trading Card Game.

The lawsuit claims that the co-designer behind Lorcana, Ryan Miller, was hired by Upper Deck to design a card game called Rush of Ikorr (which has not yet released) and that both Rush of Ikor and Lorcana had a “nearly identical” design. Upper Deck issued a 19-page complaint with the lawsuit and is currently seeking an injunction that would prevent the release of Lorcana.



An excerpt from the complaint:

“Throughout Miller’s time as lead game designer of Rush of Ikorr 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.“

“Rather than allow Miller to honor the Agreements and their terms, Upper Deck is informed and believes that Ravensburger induced and intended for Miller to breach his obligations so that it could capitalize on Miller’s knowledge of the elements of the Rush of Ikorr game so he could make a near-identical game for it. This allowed Ravensburger to gain a competitive advantage, an accelerated launch, and bring a nearly identical TCG to market under a different brand.“

Upper Deck president Jason Masherah stated in a press release:

“We invested significant time and resources to develop a new novel and trading card game. Our current leadership values the importance of protecting intellectual property of both Upper Deck and its licensors. We want gamers and fans to continue enjoying and having access to unique, innovative and immersive trading card games. 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.“



However since then Ravensburger issued a response to the lawsuit and says they have not been served a complaint (as of yet):

“Ravensburger has not been served with a complaint and thus cannot speculate on potential legal matters. We at Ravensburger stand behind the integrity of our team and the originality of our products.“

Despite this potential lawsuit the game is still currently set for a Fall 2023 release. Whether or not the release of the game will be affected or even halted (which it probably won’t) this is just another name on the long list of legal battles Disney seems to find themselves involved in; Whether directly or indirectly. 

What do you think? Was Upper Deck the victim of theft when this new Disney card game was created?

Sources: Gizmodo, Polygon, comicbook.com