European Union fines company behind Hello Kitty for limiting online sales
- Sanrio, which owns the intellectual property rights to Hello Kitty and other popular children’s characters, has been under investigation since 2017
- The company was found to have imposed restrictions that banned or discourage traders from selling merchandise in other EU countries
Sanrio designs, licences, produces and sells products featuring Hello Kitty, “an anthropomorphic cat girl also known by her full name Kitty White,” and other popular characters such as My Melody, Little Twin Stars, Keroppi and Chococat, the European Commission wrote.
It also holds the intellectual property rights to the Mr Men and Little Miss characters. Merchandising products range from mugs, bags and stationery through to toys, which all bear images protected by trademarks or copyright.
The commission launched an investigation in 2017 into Sanrio’s licensing and distribution products, alongside separate investigations into Nike and Universal Studios.
It found on Tuesday that Sanrio had imposed direct and indirect restrictions, banning or discouraging traders from selling their merchandise in other EU countries than their own, contrary to the rules of the bloc’s single market.
“Today’s decision confirms that traders who sell licensed products cannot be prevented from selling products in a different country,” said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.