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"We have negotiated with Tsuburaya Productions since the beginning of this year after the dispute was settled and the local Supreme Court ruled in favour of Tsuburaya Productions in February," Krit Sakulpanich, managing director of DEX, said yesterday.

DEX, the local franchisee for the "Masked Rider" TV series and merchandise from Japan, will be the authorised licensing agent for Ultraman Max and Ultraman Mebius in Thailand and responsible for all marketing, merchandising and promotion activities of the superhero characters.

The move opens up a new chapter for the Japanese superhero in this country.

"DEX however will not take any responsibility for local legal issues and cases," Krit said.

DEX sees great potential for the Ultraman figures here as they have many local fans, who adore live action hero characters. The Ultraman TV series also helps inspire kids to be good and moral citizens. The TV series is not complicated and is easy to understood.

The Ultraman Max series with 40 episodes will be broadcast on free, cable and satellite TV this year, followed by the 50-episode Ultraman Mebius series next year.

Ultraman Max home video products will also be launched this month, including VCDs and related merchandise, such as apparel, shoes, bed sheets and snacks.

"We will organise a road show called Ultraman Festival next year, together with Meet & Greet costumes, to promote our Ultraman Max and Ultraman Mebius characters at schools and leading department stores. Ultraman Max and Ultraman Mebius stage shows will be imported from Japan to entertain Thai fans during school vacations and special holiday occasions in 2009," Krit said.

Ultraman Max and Ultraman Mebius are expected to generate Bt50 million in revenues next year.

DEX will also launch new Japanese hero characters next year, including Masked Rider Den-O, Gundam Double O, and Bakugan.

DEX has set a goal of Bt200 million in total sales this year, but the current economic difficulties are expected to make actual sales drop dramatically by 20 per cent from target.

Shinichi Ooka, president of Tsuburaya Productions, said in a statement yesterday that the company is the production house that has produced the world's first television programme using the TOKU-SATSU, or special effects techniques.

For more than 40 years, the company has kept producing a variety of programmes including its pinnacle effort, the Ultraman series, which premiered in 1966.

The whole of Ultraman series produced so far boasts of more than 3,000 hero and monster characters.

Tsuburaya has always been able to provide fresh and entertaining elements by presenting each show from a diverse world perspective on a universal scale, he said.

However, Tsuburaya's Ultraman business outside Japan has been hampered by obstacles due to the legal dispute that began in 1996. Such an unfortunate situation was called to an end when on February 5, the Supreme Court of Thailand confirmed in its ruling that Tsuburaya Productions is the sole copyrights owner to the Ultraman series, he said.

"To restart our licence business in Thailand, Tsuburaya Productions has selected, among all the Ultraman shows, the following two titles which have already enjoyed popularity in Japan, which are Ultraman Max and Ultraman Mebius TV series," Ooka said.

"As our business partner for these two programmes in Thailand, Tsuburaya Productions has appointed, as our exclusive and authorised agent, Dream Express (DEX), a company credited with good performance in Thailand, with whom we have entered into a licence agreement," he said.