Week 8 EOC: Bratz Brawl

Mattel sued MGA Entertainment, saying MGA's Bratz dolls were property of Mattel since Carter Bryant was working for Mattel when he made the Bratz dolls:

"in 2008, a jury concluded that Barbie doll clothing designer Carter Bryant was under contract to Mattel when he came up with the initial design for the Bratz dolls. The jury awarded Mattel $100 million, and the trial judge ruled that the Bratz franchise was the property of Mattel."

 After a few years the case was taken to court again:

"But this past July, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, in a unanimous decision, threw out the district court's injunction that had turned the dolls over to Mattel. In its decision, the Ninth Circuit said it was unfair to give Mattel the Bratz line, because its value was "overwhelmingly" created by MGA. In addition, the court said that in any new trial the district court should address whether Mattel owned Mr. Bryant's ideas under his contract. The district court vacated the jury's monetary award in October and agreed to rehear the case."

I feel like that was the fair thing to do. MGA Entertainment and Mr. Bryant didn't do anything wrong by starting their own doll company, which didn't look like Barbies at all. I personally believe Mattel was mad that the Bratz dolls  had so much success. After all,

"The Bratz dolls... at the height of their popularity grossed $1 billion in revenue for closely held MGA. The glitzy Bratz girls were also the first serious challengers to Barbie., whose sales began to soften as the Bratz dolls' popularity increased."

I understand Mattel was sending a message that they do not tolerate "unlawful conduct", but Carter Bryant didn't do anything wrong when he, in his own free time, made the Bratz dolls.