Mattel warded $40M in Bratz lawsuit
RIVERSIDE, CA Damages were awarded for contract interference and copyright
infringement. No punitive damages were ordered against MGA.
MGA hailed the decision as vindication in the long-running case.
"This jury found there was no guilt," MGA chief executive
Isaac Larian said.
MGA attorney Thomas Nolan said the jury had awarded just 2
percent of the damages Mattel had sought.
"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.
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.
In his closing arguments, Mattel attorney John Quinn said MGA
owed Mattel at least $1 billion in Bratz profits and interest,
while chief executive Isaac Larian aided in the breach of contract
and owed nearly $800 million for his complicity.
MGA attorneys countered that the jury should award Mattel as
little as $30 million because the company had built the doll line's
value with smart additions, branding and packaging.
The amount of damages turned on the question of whether jurors
believed MGA should only be held responsible for profits derived
from the first four Bratz dolls -- which came from Bryant's drawings
-- or from all the subsequent Bratz dolls and related products.
The four original dolls made just $4 million in profit their
first year and comprised only 2.5 percent of MGA's entire Bratz
revenue, said Raoul Kennedy, one of MGA's attorneys.
In the past seven years, MGA has built the popular brand to
include more than 40 characters and expanded it with spin-offs such
as Bratz Babyz, Bratz Petz, Bratz Boyz and items like helmets,
backpacks and bedsheets.
Quinn said MGA owed Mattel for the entire Bratz empire,
amounting to at least $1 billion in Bratz profits and interest.
Quinn argued that Larian, too, personally gained nearly $800
million in stock value and distributions flowing from the success
of the dolls.
After their introduction in 2001, the Bratz line exploded in
popularity among "tweens" -- girls 7 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.
Sales of Barbie -- a near right-of-passage in American girlhood --
have slid since Bratz's Yasmin, Cloe, Jade and Sasha came on the
scene. Domestic sales of Barbie were down 15 percent in 2007 and 12
percent in the first quarter of 2008, while international sales
increased 6 percent in 2008 as opposed to 12 percent the previous
year.
Bryant, the Bratz designer, settled with Mattel on the eve of
trial. The terms of that settlement have not been made public.