Mattel won the big battles in the Barbie vs. Bratz trial, but it may have lost the financial war.
A jury in federal court Tuesday awarded Mattel Inc. as much as $100 million in a copyright infringement case against MGA Entertainment Inc., which brought out the hugely popular Bratz dolls in 2001.
But that's about 5.5% of the $1.8 billion that Mattel asked of the jury.
"MGA wins on this one, big time," said Margaret Whitfield, an analyst with Sterne Agee & Leach. "That amount maybe just covers Mattel's legal expenses, with a little left over."
Mattel's stock rose 10 cents to $20.24 before the verdict was read but fell as much as 3.8% in after-hours trading.
Last month, the jury in U.S. District Court in Riverside handed El Segundo-based Mattel a sweeping victory when it ruled that one of its Barbie designers created the sassy Bratz while working at Mattel under an exclusivity contract. The jury also found that MGA and its chief executive, Isaac Larian, secretly aided the designer in breaking his exclusivity contract with Mattel.
But when it came to figuring damages, the jury decided that MGA and Larian played a minor role compared with the doll's designer, Carter Bryant, who earned more than $30 million in royalties from the Bratz line.
"My own feeling was that Carter Bryant pulled the wool over everyone's eyes," said jury foreman Christopher Blazer, a retired school custodian who lives in Fontana.
Bryant settled with Mattel just before the trial began in May. Terms of that settlement were sealed by the court and not revealed.
Mattel Chief Executive Robert A. Eckert said in a statement that the company was "pleased that the principles of fair play and fair competition that prompted Mattel to bring the suit in the first place have prevailed."
Mattel's attorney, John Quinn, didn't discuss the damage amounts in a statement but noted: "After carefully weighing nearly three months of testimony and evidence, the jury arrived at a unanimous and undeniable conclusion that MGA engaged in illegal business practices."
Mattel hasn't said how much it spent on the case since it was filed four years ago. During this year's second quarter, the company spent more than $16 million on the case.
Larian was elated with the jury decision, saying that the damages that Mattel sought -- $1 billion from MGA and nearly $800 million from Larian -- weren't based on the case's facts.
