Decision Came Down On August 5, 2011.
If you follow our “In the News” category, you know we have been following the attorney’s fees requests made by MGA Entertainment Inc., maker of Bratz dolls, against Mattel Inc. after it won a trade secrets claim and successfully defended Mattel’s copyright infringement claim in federal court in a trial presided by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter.
We now have the final tally, and it is a big one for MGA.
District Judge David Carter yesterday awarded MGA $85 million in punitive damages and $2.5 million in fees and costs for its trade-secret theft claims against Mattel. He also awarded MGA about $137 million in fees and costs for having to defend against Mattel’s copyright infringement claims. Here is one of his quotes in ruling on both sides’ post-trial legal positions: “Mattel asserted a copyright claim that was stunning in scope and unreasonable in relief it requested. The claim imperiled free expression, competition, and the only serious competitor Mattel had faced in the fashion doll market in nearly 50 years.”
The litigation that produced this ruling is Bryant v. Mattel Inc., Case No. 04-09049 (C.D. Cal., Santa Ana).
BLAWG BONUS: Link to obituary of Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel, inventor of Hot Wheels, published in LA Times, July 23, 2011.
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