The Dutch artist Dick Bruna , creator of Miffy , has suggested that Hello Kitty is a copy of Miffy ( in ) , being rendered in a similar style , stating disapprovingly in an interview for the British newspaper '' The Daily Telegraph '' : Mercis , the firm that managed copyrights for Bruna , took Sanrio to court over their Hello Kitty-associated character Cathy , a rabbit which made her first appearance in 1976 and which Mercis argued infringed the copyright for Miffy . A court in Amsterdam ruled in favour of Mercis in November 2010 and ordered Sanrio to stop the production and sale of merchandise featuring Cathy in the Benelux countries . However , in June of the following year the two companies announced that they had reached a settlement agreement to end their legal dispute , resulting in Sanrio ceasing to use the Cathy character and the two firms jointly donating € 150,000 for reconstruction after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Hello Kitty