The Pokémon Company

The Pokémon Company
株式会社ポケモン
Industry Brand management
Founded April 23, 1998 (1998-04-23)
Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan
Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Bellevue, Washington, United States
London, United Kingdom
Seoul, South Korea
Key people
 Tsunekazu Ishihara
Kenji Okubo
Akira Chiba
Products Pokémon
Owners Nintendo
Game Freak
Creatures
Website pokemon.co.jp
pokemon.jp
pokemon.com
pokemonkorea.co.kr

The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン Kabushiki gaisha Pokemon) is a company that is responsible for marketing and licensing the Pokémon franchise. It was established through joint investment by the three businesses holding the copyright on Pokémon: Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures.[1] It began operating in 1998 and adopted the moniker Pokémon Ltd. in October 2000.[2] The company is headquartered in the Roppongi Hills MTower in Roppongi Rokuchome, Minato, Tokyo.[3]

The company has separate divisions that handle operations in different parts of the world, with The Pokémon Company International supporting the territories outside Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. In South Korea, the operations are handled by Pokémon Korea, Inc.[3]

History

The company's operations began in 1998 with the opening of the Pokémon Center store in Tokyo, before the actual trademark of "Pokémon, Ltd." was established in 2000. Since then this branch has been marketed as The Pokémon Company. The United States branch (Pokémon USA, Inc.) opened in 2001 to handle licensing overseas.[4] Nintendo Australia does all licensing and marketing of Pokémon products in Australia and New Zealand, as The Pokémon Company does not have an Australian branch.[3]

Since 2001, nearly all licensed Pokémon products have "©Pokémon" in the copyright acknowledgments with the usual three of "©Nintendo", "©GAME FREAK inc." and "©Creatures Inc." The video games, Pokémon Trading Card Game and licensed toys are still being made by third- and second-party companies such as Tomy.

In 2006, Pokémon Korea, Inc. was founded to manage the company's operations in South Korea.[4] The headquarters are located in Seoul.[3]

In 2009, Pokémon USA and Pokémon UK merged to become The Pokémon Company International, which handles American and European Pokémon operations under the administration of Kenji Okubo.[5] The company's offices in the United States are in Bellevue, Washington[6] and its offices in the United Kingdom are in London.[3] Australian operations are controlled by Nintendo Australia.

The Pokémon Company reported $2 billion in retail sales for 2014.[7]

Listed credits

Games

Anime

TV series
Movies
TV specials

References

  1. ↑ "Company History". The Pokemon Company.
  2. ↑ "Company History - The Pokémon Company". Pokemon.com. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "会社概要". The Pokémon Company. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 "沿革". The Pokémon Company. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Daswani, Mansha (9 April 2009). "Pokémon Merges North American, European Operations". WorldScreen.com.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  6. ↑ "Contact Us". The Pokémon Company International. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Pokemon Company Reports 2 Billion in Retail Sales for 2015". nintendoenthusiast.com.
  8. ↑ "Pokémon Picross". Nintendo. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  9. ↑ "『ポケモン超不思議のダンジョン』公式サイト" (in Japanese). Pokemon.co.jp. Retrieved May 21, 2015.

External links

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