Week 8 EOC: Bratz Brawl

“Heading into the Barbie vs. Bratz copyright trial, it had been assumed that the legal battleground would be a timeline of events: Was Carter Bryant, the designer of the pouty-lipped Bratz doll, still an employee of Mattel when dreamed up the now-$500 million per year franchise owned by MGA?” (http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/06/09/in-barbie-and-bratz-case-is-the-chronology-the-key/) “During the first trial in 2008, a jury in Riverside found that Bratz creator and former Barbie designer Carter Bryant was in Mattel's employ when he developed the concept for the immensely popular dolls. Mattel was awarded $100 million in damages and Van Nuys-based MGA was ordered to turn over the franchise and stop making and selling Bratz products. That decision was overturned in July by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals; the case was later sent to Santa Ana for retrial.” (http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/11/business/la-fi-0211-bratz-mattel-20110211) Mattel is claiming this is a case of a stolen trade secret, which is costing them billions of dollars in potential revenue. “Mattel alleged in papers filed late Wednesday that the trial was tainted when MGA's Isaac Larian testified that Mattel caused the stress that led to his father's death and destroyed his family, among other things. Mattel is asking U.S. District Judge David O. Carter to declare a mistrial or tell the jury the statements are false. Quinn said in his opening statement last month that MGA has sold $3.3 billion in Bratz and related products, with $292 million in profits, while the doll line decreased Mattel's Barbie profits by $393 million.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110210/us-mattel-bratz/) This really seems to be a case of Mattel wanting to lay claim to the idea because they just wish they had been the company to release it since they have lost money since the release of the Bratz dolls. Without some sort of written proof that Carter Bryant was indeed employed at Mattel while he thought up the idea for Bratz, I don’t see how Mattel can have a case.