Want to stay current on e–commerce law? Sign up for Email Newsletter.
Mattel Wins Permanent Injunction in Bratz Case
A judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted a number of orders to Mattel, Inc. following Mattel’s motion for a permanent injunction against MGA Entertainment, Inc., its Hong Kong subsidiary and the CEO of MGA. The judge enjoined the defendants from manufacturing, distributing or selling certain Bratz fashion dolls or using the Bratz name for any goods or services. The judge also ordered MGA to transfer all trade-mark and domain name rights in the “Bratz” and “Jade” trade-marks to Mattel, to recall all infringing Bratz products from store shelves and to reimburse retailers for the recall.
Mattel instituted the motion for a permanent injunction after Mattel received a favourable jury verdict in its lawsuit against the defendants this past summer. The jury had found that Bratz designer Carter Bryant had created the name, the concept and the prototypical sculpt for the Bratz brand of female fashion dolls while he was an employee of Mattel and bound to an inventions agreement which provided that Mattel owned rights to such property and the property itself. The jury had awarded Mattel $10 million for copyright infringement as MGA infringed Mattel's copyrights in producing the dolls using Bryant's sketches. The jury had also awarded a total of $90 million to Mattel in causes of action related to the intentional interference of Bryant’s contractual relations with Mattel, breach of fiduciary duty and duty of loyalty, and unlawful conversion of certain property of Mattel. Mattel had originally sought two billion dollars in damages.
Bryant settled with Mattel on the eve of the trial with the terms of the settlement remaining confidential.
The court’s orders will not take effect until the court rules on the parties’ post-trial motions, which are scheduled to be heard in February.
For a copy of the decision (United States District Court Central District of California), visit: