New Trial for Bratz Case; $100 Million Award Nixed

VAN NUYS: A new trial has been ordered in the long-running legal battle between MGA Entertainment and Mattel over the Bratz doll, with the $100 million in damages awarded to Mattel being vacated by a California judge.

The 2008 ruling granted Mattel the rights to most of the Bratz doll products and awarded it $100 million in damages from MGA. Late last week, Judge David Carter granted MGA’s request for a new trial and vacated the verdict, citing errors by former district court judge Stephen Larson. This included errors in instructing the jury and taking issues away from the jury, Carter said, which were "central, significant, pervasive, and likely determinative of the outcome of all claims" in the 2008 trial. A new trial "is therefore required and all verdicts and damages awards must be vacated," Carter said. The new trial is set for January 2011.

MGA said in a statement: "Although gratified by the correction of the errors and looking forward to bringing this litigation to an end, MGA’s gratitude is tempered by the heartache and financial devastation that MGA and its employees have been forced to endure, including the hundreds of MGA employees and their families who lost their jobs through layoffs, as a result of the erroneous rulings and by Mattel’s relentless business strategy of “litigating MGA to death.”"

A jury had previously ruled that the designer of the Bratz doll was still employed by Mattel when he came up with the idea for the hit toy line.