Panini will continue making WWE products for the foreseeable future.
Fightful Select has learned that a New York court recently denied WWE's restraining order against trading card company Panini. As a result, Panini will legally be able to continue making WWE product while both WWE and Panini's lawsuits against one another play out in court. The restraining order was denied by Judge Lorna Schofield for a currently unknown reason.
Furthermore, new documents related to the case have been made available to the public. According to Paul Lesko on Twitter, the documents state that WWE is accusing Panini of not fulfilling a part of their contract that required Panini to create digital trading cards or physical trading card games by June 1, 2022.
As a result of the alleged contract violation, WWE terminated their deal with Panini on August 25, 2023. Panini continued to make products, which is why WWE sued, according to Lesko.
Lesko also notes that the timing for WWE's termination of the contract with Panini is strange, given the fact that Panini allegedly would have been in violation of their contract with the company on June 2, 2022. Instead, WWE waited nearly 18 months to bring a lawsuit against Panini.
Panini notes that they fulfilled the physical trading card game part of the deal via Pack Wars and Box Wars at numerous conventions. WWE contests that Box/Pack Wars don't qualify as physical trading card games, and that images of physical trading cards don't count as digital trading cards, as those images are not for sale.
Lesko also states that WWE is asking for the court to order Panini to stop making and distributing anything related to WWE IP. Furthermore, WWE also wants Panini to return or destroy all existing inventory and pay over $5,000,000 as a result of the contract termination.
Fightful will continue to update fans on the latest news regarding the court battle between WWE and Panini. Fans can check out our first article on the matter by clicking here.
