Stardom considering ‘necessary measures’ after alleged intellectual property theft
Stardom is keeping its options open after allegedly being the victim of intellectual property theft.
The all-women’s Japanese wrestling promotion issued a statement on Monday announcing that it has completed an investigation into the intellectual property violation — which concerns another company selling trading card products featuring photos of wrestlers when they were still with Stardom. While the offending party is not named in Stardom’s statement, it appears to concern a Mayu Iwatani card collection that is being sold by rival promotion Marigold.
Iwatani departed Stardom for Marigold in 2025, joining the new promotion one year into its existence. Marigold was founded by former Stardom boss Rossy Ogawa in 2024 following his contentious split from Stardom.
Stardom’s full statement concerning the alleged intellectual property violation can be read below. It does not state that legal action is being taken but appears to keep the door open for that.
- To All Concerned Parties and Fans,
- We sincerely thank you for your continued support of Stardom.
- Currently, card products utilizing the likenesses of former Stardom wrestlers (hereinafter referred to as ‘the subject products’) are being manufactured and sold by another company.
- Following an investigation conducted by our company, we have confirmed the following facts regarding the advertising copy for the subject products and some of the cards enclosed within them:
- The products bear the advertising text ‘Stardom Memorial’
- They use portraits of wrestlers from their time under our management
- They utilize intellectual property managed by our company, such as belts and logos
- They use photographic materials shot by our company for product use, and incorrectly display copyright notices attributing copyright to the other company
- However, as the company managing the rights to the aforementioned intellectual property and past athlete portraits, we have neither been requested to grant permission nor have we been involved in any way regarding the sale of this product.
- Moving forward, we intend to consider necessary measures to protect the intellectual property rights we hold or manage.
- We would appreciate your understanding of the above. Thank you for your kind attention.
Marigold has not commented publicly on the situation.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.