California Jury Finds Bratz Dolls Originated with a Mattel Designer

Holding:

In this copyright dispute between "Barbie" doll-maker Mattel, Inc. ("Mattel") and "Bratz" doll-maker MGA Entertainment, Inc. ("MGA"), a jury sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found that Mattel's former employee conceptualized the Bratz character and name while he was still under contract with Mattel. The jury held that designer Carter Bryant ("Bryant") made most of the first sketches of the Bratz characters while he was employed by Mattel in 1999 and 2000, and that Mattel owned most of Bryant's Bratz drawings, including the three-dimensional prototypes he made for MGA. The jury also found that that MGA and its chief executive officer, Isaac Larian ("Larian"), were liable for intentional interference with Bryant's Mattel contract. The jury was hung on the issue whether Mattel owned four of Bryant's original drawings from a spiral notebook that MGA argued the designer made while he was away from Mattel. The issue of damages will be the subject of the next stage of the trial.

Detailed Summary:

Mattel, represented by Quinn Emanuel Oliver Urquhart & Hedges, argued that MGA unlawfully took the idea for Bratz dolls from its employee, Bryant, because Bryant conceived the idea while still under contract with Mattel.  MGA asserted that Bryant created Bratz in the time period between two stints at Mattel.  Bryant had been a separate defendant in this case, but settled with Mattel on the eve of trial for an undisclosed amount.

Mattel argued that Bryant had worked for them between September 1995 and April 1998 and then returned for a second stint at Mattel between January 1999 and October 2000.  He…

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