Jury Rules Bratz Doll Created During Designer’s Stint at Mattel
A California jury has ruled that the popular Bratz doll was created by a designer when he was working for Mattel, a blow for the doll’s maker, Mattel rival MGA Entertainment Inc.
Mattel had claimed designer Carter Bryant took the idea for the hip, multi-ethnic doll to MGA even though he created the toy while under contract as a Barbie designer, the New York Times reports. Annual sales and licensing fees are higher than $1 billion.
Damages will be decided in a second phase of the federal trial, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). The newspaper says the verdict means that MGA might have to surrender royalties or even the right to produce the dolls. Bryant has already settled the case for an undisclosed amount.
The trial had featured disputes over whether the jury could hear evidence that Bryant had used a computer program called Evidence Eliminator to scrub his hard drive and whether the lawyers from the warring toy companies could stay at the same hotel. The evidence was allowed but the judge declined to get involved in the hotel dispute, caused when MGA contracted with the hotel for exclusive access by its lawyers.
MGA chief executive Isaac Larian told the Wall Street Journal that Mattel had exceeded the statute of limitations to obtain a penalty and he was confident his company would prevail in the damages phase.
