Gree, KDDI File Lawsuit Against DeNA, Seek 1.05 Billion Yen
November 21, 2011, 11:58 AM ESTBy Naoko Fujimura and Takehiko Kumakura
(Updates with president’s comments in third paragraph)
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Gree Inc., a Japanese social-network website operator, and KDDI Corp. sued DeNA Co. for at least 1.05 billion yen ($13.7 million) saying the game developer prohibited others from offering services.
DeNA blocked developers, carriers and advertising agencies even after Japan’s Fair Trade Commission issued a cease and desist order against the company, which also operates a social- network site, in June, Gree said in a statement today.
“We needed to take some kind of action to recover damages,” Gree President Yoshikazu Tanaka said at a press conference in Tokyo today. Some game developers are worried of a “retaliation,” he said.
DeNA spokesman Tomoyuki Akiyama declined to comment, as the company hasn’t seen the court claim, he said by phone.
Gree fell 5.1 percent to 2,614 yen at the close of trading in Tokyo today while DeNA declined 12 percent to 2,302 yen.
--With assistance from Yoshinori Eki in Tokyo. Editors: Anand Krishnamoorthy,
To contact the reporters on this story: Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at nfujimura@bloomberg.net; Takehiko Kumakura at tkumakura@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net
