European Union authorities fined the Japanese
company behind Hello Kitty for restricting cross-
border online sales of toys, mugs, bags and
other products featuring the cartoon cat girl.
The EU’s antitrust commissioner, Margrethe
Vestager, said that Sanrio Co. was fined 6.2
million euros ($7 million) because the company
violated the bloc’s competition rules with
licensing agreements that banned traders
from selling merchandise in different countries
in the bloc.