Courts cut $172 million from Bratz doll verdict
Topics: From the Wires, News
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday tossed out $172 million in damages Mattel Inc. had been ordered to pay the maker of Bratz dolls, the latest twist in a bitter 9-year legal dispute over commercial rights to the ethnically diverse, pouty-lipped toys.
The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a jury should not have been allowed to consider MGA Entertainment Inc.’s claims that it was the victim of trade secret theft during a trial convened to consider Mattel’s lawsuit alleging MGA stole the idea for Bratz from Mattel.
The convoluted case dates back to 2004 when El Segundo-based Mattel first filed a lawsuit claiming Bratz designer Carter Bryant was working for Mattel when he did the initial drawings and early work on the provocative, hip hop-inspired dolls with large eyes, heads, lips and feet, and tiny noses.
The Bratz doll, introduced in 2001, was a blockbuster hit with “tweens,” and gave Barbie a run for her money after decades of fashion doll dominance.
A jury awarded Mattel $100 million in 2008 and found that Bryant had developed the Bratz concept while with Mattel, but the 9th Circuit overturned that verdict and a new trial was ordered.
Before the start of the second trial in Santa Ana, Calif., U.S. District Judge David Carter allowed MGA to submit a counterclaim to the jury that accused Mattel of engaging in corporate espionage at toy fairs and conspiring to keep Bratz products off retail shelves.
In April 2011, a jury rejected Mattel’s claims and sided with MGA. Mattel was ordered to pay MGA a total of $309 million in damages and legal fees.
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