AFTER WAGING a seven-year legal war against a tiny California company, Mattel Inc swallowed a surprise defeat yesterday after a US jury decided that MGA Entertainment Inc is the rightful owner of the once-billion dollar line of pouty-lipped Bratz dolls.
The astonishing loss for the world’s largest toymaker concluded a case that began in 2004, when MGA’s line of dolls was all the rage among teen and pre-teen girls. Mattel accused Van Nuys-based MGA of stealing its designs by hiring away a key employee.
Mattel chief executive Robert Eckert sat stone-faced, staring straight ahead as the verdict was read in a federal courtroom in Santa Ana, California. He said afterwards he was disappointed by the verdict.
MGA chief executive Isaac Larian said the case had been a prolonged battle for his family.
“It very well shows that in America, even huge corporations are not above the law,” Mr Larian said afterwards.
A federal jury in 2008 ordered MGA and Larian to pay Mattel $100 million, but a federal appeals court threw out that ruling. – (Reuters)
