Mattel gets $100 mln in Bratz case

By Syantani Chatterjee

RIVERSIDE, Calif (Reuters) - A California jury on Tuesday awarded Mattel Inc MAT.N $100 million (54 million pounds) in damages in the copyright infringement case it brought against MGA Entertainment Inc over the Bratz doll franchise, which has steadily taken market share from Mattel's iconic Barbie doll.

News of the award, which fell far short of the more than $2 billion in punitive damages that Mattel had asked the jury to award, sent the toy maker's shares down 3.7 percent in after-hours trade.

The issue of whether MGA can continue to sell its flagship product will be decided at a later hearing by U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson, who presided over the three-month trial.

The trial has been closely watched because a different outcome could have put MGA into dire financial straits and handed control of its $1 billion-plus Bratz franchise to Mattel.

In its lawsuit, Mattel contended it owned rights to the drawings and models upon which the big-headed, pouty-lipped Bratz dolls were based because former Barbie designer Carter Bryant made them while he was under contract to Mattel.

Bryant settled claims against him for undisclosed terms before the trial began in late May.

In the first phase of the trial, the jury awarded all but four of the dozens of drawings and models Bryant made of the four Bratz prototypes to Mattel. In the damages phase, jurors were tasked with deciding whether Bratz dolls and accessories infringed on those drawings and sculpts.

The panel found that while MGA Chief Executive Isaac Larian and his company were liable for copyright infringement, the infringement was not wilful, and the jury awarded no punitive damages.