An unofficial archive of Sanrio and the law
The Sanrio universe has a legal record.
Lawsuits, an antitrust fine, product recalls, a federal hacking case, and the disputes between the characters themselves. All of it catalogued: who sued whom, the court, the firms, and how it ended.
Who created Kuromi?
The studio that animated the 2005 "Onegai My Melody" series says one of its animators, Tomoko Miyakawa, designed Kuromi, and that Sanrio’s 2023 book "The Secrets of Kuromi" credited the character to Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi instead. Studio Comet sued in 2024 over the credit.
Kuromi created
Kuromi debuts as My Melody’s rival in the "Onegai My Melody" anime, produced by Studio Comet. The studio says its animator Tomoko Miyakawa designed her.
Sanrio publishes the credit
Sanrio’s book "The Secrets of Kuromi" credits the character to Yuko Yamaguchi, the longtime Hello Kitty designer, with no mention of Studio Comet.
Studio Comet sues
Studio Comet brings a moral-rights claim over attribution. Sanrio maintains it holds the copyright by contract and that credit was handled properly.
Pending
No public judgment. The court and docket number are not in the available English-language record.
The case is unresolved. Get one email when it is decided.
From the archive
The character a lawsuit erased.
Cathy was one of Kitty White’s friends: a plain white rabbit, introduced in 1976, whose design went back to an earlier Sanrio rabbit called Little Honey. Mercis, the company behind Dick Bruna’s Miffy, said she was too close to Miffy and sued in 2010.
A Dutch court agreed and barred Cathy across the Benelux. In the 2011 settlement, reached after the Tōhoku earthquake, Sanrio agreed to stop using the Cathy character worldwide and the two companies jointly gave €150,000 to disaster relief. Cathy has been gone from the lineup ever since.
The archive
Six divisions. The lawsuits are the main file; the rest of the record sits alongside it.
Case Archive
Every time Sanrio sued, or got sued.
The main tracker. Trademark, copyright, counterfeiting, and antitrust files, each with the court, the docket number, the firms, and a plain-language summary of what actually happened.
Open the fileCriminal Division
Kuromi's record, the Pompompurin hacker, the Tuxedo Sam matter.
One real federal cybercrime case named after a Sanrio character, and two matters argued entirely in-universe. We keep them on separate shelves.
Open the fileIndustry
Aviation, parks, wine, manufacturing, and the public company.
The licensing business in detail, one file per part: Sanrio Co., Ltd. on the Tokyo exchange, the Hello Kitty jets, the parks, the wine and cafes, manufacturing and real estate, and the stocks that touch Hello Kitty.
Open the filePrediction Markets
The character ranking, priced like a market.
The annual character popularity poll treated as a prediction market: implied odds for the next winner, the price history, regional mispricing, and where it would trade.
Open the fileSanrio History
Founders, animators, and the order the characters arrived.
From a 1960 silk company to a character empire. A timeline of debuts, the animation studio years, and the people who drew it all.
Open the fileControversies
Mods, bootlegs, a dead MMO, and rigged crane games.
The grab bag. Unauthorized game mods, the hundred-plus video games, a shuttered MMO, the Game Boy bootleg era, and crane machines as an international nuisance.
Open the fileA market curio
Stocks that touch Hello Kitty
Sanrio trades in Tokyo as 8136, and a chain of partners ride the license. Live prices, not advice.
Recent and notable matters
A few of the cases on file, with their real courts and numbers.
| Case | Type | Court | Filed | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio Comet Co., Ltd. v. Sanrio Company, Ltd. Studio Comet v. Sanrio | Authorship | Japan (court not identified in English-language reporting) | 2024 | Ongoing | Open |
| Mercis B.V. v. Sanrio Co., Ltd. Miffy v. Cathy | Copyright | District Court of Amsterdam | 2010 | Settled | Open |
| European Commission v. Sanrio Co., Ltd. (Case AT.40432) EU geo-blocking fine | Antitrust | European Commission, DG Competition | 2017 | Decided | Open |
| Sanrio Co. Ltd v. EUIPO (Miroglio Fashion intervening) SANRIO CHARACTERS v. CARACTÈRE | Trademark | General Court of the European Union (Second Chamber) | 2022 | Decided | Open |
| Sanrio Company Ltd. v. Río Luna, S.L. et al. HOLA GATO | Trademark | Provincial Court of Alicante, sitting as EU Trade Mark Court | — | Decided | Open |
| Sanrio Co. Ltd v. Dong-A Pencil Co. Ltd KITTY (Korea) | Trademark | Seoul High Court | — | Decided | Open |
Updates
Get a note when the docket moves.
New cases and rulings, only when something is actually filed or decided.