 In 1999, Harmony Gold asserted it had exclusive rights to the "distribution of the Macross television series and the right to create and authorize the sale of merchandise based on such series" outside Japan, and began sending cease-and-desist letters to import toy dealers, temporarily barring "Macross"-related merchandise from North America.The merchandise has since been imported again by the same toy dealers in direct sales, and Harmony Gold has sublicensed additional material for North American retail distribution.In 2000, Big West and Studio Nue took Tatsunoko Productions to the Tokyo District Court over who had the rights to the first "Macross" series, due to Harmony Gold's attempt to bar Japanese Macross merchandise in North America the previous year.