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Jury awards Mattel US$100 million in Bratz dolls suit

A federal jury awarded Mattel Inc US$100 million in damages on Tuesday in a copyright lawsuit that pitted the house of Barbie against MGA Entertainment Inc, the maker of the saucy Bratz dolls.

MGA Entertainment Inc and its chief executive officer Isaac Larian were told to pay a total of US$90 million in three causes of action related to Mattel’s employment contract with designer Carter Bryant, who developed the Bratz concept. The jury also ordered MGA, Larian and subsidiary MGA Hong Kong to pay a total of US$10 million for copyright infringement.

The amount fell far short of the US$1.8 billion that Mattel attorneys had demanded in their closing arguments. Still, the world’s largest toy maker hailed the damage award as a victory and said it planned to file an injunction to stop MGA from producing the Bratz line.

“Mattel has pursued this case first and foremost as a matter of principle,” Mattel CEO Robert Eckert said. “We have an obligation to defend ourselves against competitors who choose to engage in fraudulent activities against us.”

Larian said he would appeal and MGA attorney Thomas Nolan contended that the three awards related to the contract dispute were duplicative.

US District Judge Stephen Larson must decide if that is true and determine a final amount to be paid to Mattel at a future hearing. Nolan said he planned to ask Larson to set total damages at no more than US$40 million.

The jury did not award any punitive damages and found that neither Larian nor MGA acted willfully when they used Bryant’s drawings, which could have increased the damages.

“We are thrilled that this jury sent a strong message that they want these companies to compete in the marketplace and not the courtroom,” Nolan said.

Larian said MGA would keep making Bratz dolls even as Mattel attorneys were to meet yesterday to discuss their legal strategies.

The same jury that decided the damages phase concluded last month that Bratz designer Carter Bryant came up with the Bratz concept while working at Mattel. Jurors placed the value of Bryant’s drawings at US$31,500 and awarded that plus interest to Mattel.

In his closing arguments, Mattel attorney John Quinn said MGA owed Mattel at least US$1 billion in Bratz profits and interest, while Larian aided in the breach of contract and owed about US$800 million for his complicity.

MGA attorneys countered that the jury should award Mattel as little as US$30 million because the company had built the doll line’s value with smart additions, branding and packaging.

The jury awarded damages Tuesday of US$20 million against MGA and US$10 million against Larian in each of three causes of action — intentional interference with contractual relations, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, and aiding and abetting breach of the duty of loyalty.

They also found that MGA owed Mattel US$6 million for copyright infringement, while Larian owed US$3 million in distributions he had received from Bratz-related sales and MGA Hong Kong owed US$1 million.

After their introduction in 2001, the Bratz line exploded in popularity among “tweens” — girls aged seven to 12. The highly stylized fashion dolls have oversized feet, heads and hands, curling lashes and huge, almond-shaped eyes daubed with exotic-colored eyeshadow.
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