Mattel Inc. had a major victory in court: it got a court order stopping
MGM Entertainment for making or selling any Bratz dolls that have been found to infringe Mattel's copyright.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson in Riverside, California, yesterday granted Mattel's request to stop MGA from making most of its multiethnic fashion dolls that have contributed to a drop in Barbie sales since being first sold in 2001. A jury earlier found that a Mattel designer came up with the Bratz name and characters and secretly took the idea to MGA.
"Mattel has established its exclusive rights to the Bratz drawings, and the court has found that hundreds of the MGA parties' products, including all the currently available core female fashion dolls Mattel was able to locate in the marketplace, infringe those rights," Larson said in his ruling.
The judge also granted Mattel's request to order MGA not to use the name "Bratz." El Segundo, California-based Mattel asked for an injunction against MGA after a two-phase trial.
Mattel rose 66 cents, or 5 percent, to $13.86 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Shares have fallen 30 percent in the past year.
The jury found that ex-Barbie designer Carter Bryant came up with the Bratz idea and made most of the original sketches for it while he was still at Mattel. It awarded Mattel $100 million in damages, 5 percent of the $2 billion the toymaker sought.
MGA disputes the ruling and says it will appeal. But the judge said that the two companies need to stop fighting and reach a settlement. Mattel has had to fire 70 employees because of the costs of this lawsuit, according to one source. Profits from Bratz are disputed, but are somewhere between $405.4 million and $777.9 million. Bratz dolls will be sold until a February 11, 2009 hearing on post-trial motions.
