MGA Finally Gets Some Good News

After being pummeled by a series of devastating rulings and Court decisions in their ongoing battle with Mattel over rights to the Bratz doll line, MGA Entertainment finally received a bit of good news. In a separate battle with Art Attacks Ink, again involving rights to the Bratz dolls, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the District Court and upheld a determination that Art Attacks had no right to the Bratz designs. While the Mattel claims were based on the creation timing and employment status of original designer of the Bratz dolls, Air Attacks had argued that their t-shirt designs of similar characters had served as the basis for the Bratz dolls even though the t-shirts were only sold from a booth at the fair and from a Web site with very limited access to the general public. Consequently, the District Court held that there was no proof that MGA was even aware of the Air Attacks designs let alone that there could be any relationship between them.

The moral of the story? Make sure your designs are well-known before you claim infringement or misappropriation.

David Baker
The Airsoft Lawyer