Legal News

9th Circuit says Mattel can't beat on the Bratz

By Richard Binder

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned an order from December 2008 that ordered MGA to stop manufacturing the Bratz dolls after a four-year dispute.  The three-judge panel found the remedy far too broad, and in his opinion Chief Judge Alex Kozinski held that the district court erred when it found Mattel's employment agreement covered the idea for Bratz.

The judges have sent the case back to federal district court to determine a more fair disposition of the Bratz property, saying "it was not equitable to transfer this billion-dollar brand ? the value of which was overwhelmingly the result of MGA's legitimate efforts ? because it might have started with two misappropriated names."

Carole Handler, an intellectual property lawyer with Lathrop and Gage LLP in Los Angeles who isn?t involved in the case, told Bloomberg that the ruling is in line with Kozinski?s previous decisions in support of free discourse, including a 2002 ruling throwing out a trademark-infringement lawsuit filed by Mattel against the Danish band Aqua over the song "Barbie Girl."

Click these for details.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on July 26, 2010 (boomark / email).