In addition , on August 26 , 2010 , Mercis BV , representing Bruna , brought suit against Sanrio with the claim that one of Hello Kitty 's companion characters , a rabbit named Cathy , infringes on the copyright and trademark of Miffy . On November 2 , 2010 , a Dutch court ruled against Sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing Cathy products in Belgium , Luxembourg , and the Netherlands . On June 7 , 2011 , following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan , Sanrio and Mercis reached an out-of-court settlement requiring Sanrio to halt production of merchandise that features Cathy . Instead of continuing the court battle , the two companies announced that they would donate the legal fees to help the earthquake victims
Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Miffy