It is exciting when faculty can help shape decisions of influential courts like the 9th Circuit. Recently, Prof. Andy Phelps contributed his expertise in a Brief of Amici Curiae about the Upper Deck Company v. Ryan Milton (Ryan Miller). Prof Phelps serves advises PhD students at the AU SOC, and directs the AU Game Center.
This case is on a dispute between The Upper Deck Company, a major trading card manufacturer, and an individual, Ryan Milton (also known as Ryan Miller), the brand manager and co-designer of the Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game, and Ravensburger in June 2023. Ryan Miller was accused of producing or distributing counterfeit or unauthorized trading cards using confidential Rush of Ikorr game designs to create Disney Lorcana. At the heart of this case, this is about intellectual property (IP) and authenticity, or more specifically, whether Ryan Milton violated Upper Deck’s rights by creating Lorcana on the intellectual property of Rush of Ikorr.
The case was settled in October 2025 where U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson ruled that Lorcana did not infringe on Upper Deck’s Rush of Ikorr copyright.
