Thoughts on the Mattel vs. MGA Bratz trial
At what point is Mattel going to give up on the Bratz litigation? After what appears to be a major setback, it seems that at the very least this trial could continue to go on for a long time.
Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court Judge handed down, what the Wall Street Journal article referred to as a "stunning ruling... essentially reversing much of the December 2008 ruling that gave Mattel the rights to much of MGA's Bratz products." As a result, we are probably going to see a retrial.
You will recall that Mattel had earlier won a major victory in the case which awarded them $100 million and the Bratz line. The court stated as its rationale for the reversal by stating: "It is not equitable to transfer this billion-dollar brand, the value of which is overwhelmingly the result of MGA's legitimate efforts, because it may have started with two misappropriated names," the appellate panel said in its ruling today."
Wall Street Journal writer Ashby Jones saw this as a major development stating: "This is a breathtaking opinion by a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit. The panel endorsed all of the arguments that MGA has been advancing throughout this protracted litigation,"
But is it?
Gerrick Johnson, who covers the toy industry for BMO Capital and has closely follows Mattel, does not agree. He wrote in his newsletter:
While the market may react to the headline, the real impact should be minimal. The transfer of Bratz ownership was stayed during the appeals process; therefore ,MAT was not selling Bratz dolls, nor did we have any Bratz revenue in our model. We do not believe the Street was modeling any Bratz revenue, either. Conversely, we doubt retailers will be willing to purchase Bratz inventory until the situation is resolved; therefore, we doubt MAT's Barbie will face much in the way of new Bratz competition from MGA.
I think Mattel is going to let this thing go away. They have been sucessful in seriously wounding a major competitor. That may be enough as the sunk cost in this trial may just mitigate against spending more for what are seemingly diminishing returns.
mrb commented:
alwsome
To Carter commented:
Will be in touch with new line. Make Bratz like peanuts. pj & sin
To Carter commented:
Will be in touch with new line. Make Bratz like peanuts. pj & sin
leticia commented:
i love bratz
leticia commented:
i love bratz
vToy commented:
Just waiting to hear when Isaac files his defamation of character lawsuit against Mattel. For one with a dubious reputation going in, the Bratz debacle didn't help his image at all. Mattel should pay for lowering his esteem in the industry!
Bridget Kelly commented:
Thanks for the info Richard, I for 1 hoped that Bratz would come out on top of this lawsuit. I felt that Mattel tried too hard to reach into someones else's toy box no matter if the designer/ creator garnered experience at Mattel. Based on my own frustrating years as a corporate designer, I have presented many ideas to many corporate leaders,and only after leaving their organizations do they now try to copy what I have done on my own... It seems Mattel could have made room for Bratz to happen in their own organization if the return had been worth it for the designer. But corporate looses it's flexibility the bigger it gets. Their loss. I personally feel it was a good thing Bratz won something, even on principle. Competition should be fair and square, not sued for trying to find a place on the toy shelf. There is plenty of room for everyone to play.
jahmome commented:
Mattel does not want Bratz, they want to eliminate a competitor. they also believe that any idea an employee has belongs to them, whether they even consider to use it or not.
The only rightful thing in this whole case was for them to fire Carter Bryant for talking to a competitor, but he quit four years before Mattel even learned Bratz were a Mattel idea!
Mario commented:
There is much value in an idea that is stolen from a company known to be able to design great products and market them into multi million dollar properties. The appellate judges are calling this a case of "two misappropriated names", sorry folks, things are not so simple and innocent. I look forward to the new trial, and phase 2 is also coming up. I suspect there will be more stories of "misappropriated names" and such.
Dave commented:
MGA slized out of this one,Isaac Larin is guilty as hell.7wjy2
