Post by bananasmom on Jan 16, 2014 12:37:40 GMT -5
The Nasty Bratz-Versus-Barbie Legal Battle Isn't Over
1/15/2014 @ 8:13AM
If by some chance you thought toy billionaire Isaac Larian was playing around when he vowed to renew his battle with Mattel over the Bratz dolls, then think again.
Larian’s MGA Entertainment has refiled its lawsuit against Mattel, its much larger rival and the world’s largest toymaker, over who created the miniskirted Bratz girls. There’s nothing doll-like about the size of the judgement sought by Larian. He’s looking for at least $1 billion in damages.
He might not get it. A federal judge had already sided with Larian in the fight, but largely reduced the penalty Mattel would pay. The judge’s decision did leave the door open for Larian to file a new lawsuit–and try once more for Mattel to turn over more money.
In the new legal documents, Larian again alleges Mattel behaved in a way familiar to parents of naughty children, that it stole, lied and bullied, in court and out, during the nearly decade-long battle over Bratz. The spat stems back to Larian’s decision to hire a one-time Mattel doll designer, Bryant Carter, in the early 2000s. Bryant came up with the almond-eyed, big-lipped girls that finally made MGA a hit…before Mattel swooped in to claim Bryant dreamed up the dolls while on its payroll. The two spent the next half-decade in court, while judges see-sawed over who’d have custody of Bratz, a nearly billion-dollar brand.
The Bratz dolls are only a shadow of their former selves today. FORBES recently estimated their sales weren’t more than $50 million, a large decline from the mid-2000s when they brought in hundreds of millions in revenue. MGA is doing just fine though, thanks to the big hit of the rag-doll line Lalaloopsy and the perennial preschool favorite Little Tikes.
A Mattel spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that the company isn’t worried about Larian’s latest legal maneuver. Mattel believes the statute of limitations has run out.
Just as any child in a school-yard brawl knows, Mattel and MGA surely understand it’s not about who’s right. It’s about who’ll cry uncle first.
Reach Abram Brown at abrown@forbes.com.
www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2014/01/15/the-nasty-bratz-versus-barbie-legal-battle-isnt-over/