Isaac Larian

The temporary receiver put in place to oversee MGA Entertainment Inc. has been removed by the federal judge who put him there last month, making company founder Isaac Larian again the sole head of the toy-making outfit. But it's a diminished kingdom. The order issued late Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Larson did not alter the fact that Van Nuys-based MGA has to give up by far its most prominent product line -- the Bratz dolls it introduced in 2001.

Isaac Larian, the outspoken entrepreneur who made a fortune off the popular Bratz dolls, was ordered by a federal court judge late Monday to hand control of his company to a temporary receiver. In addition, MGA Entertainment Inc., based in Van Nuys, can no longer produce or distribute the sassy dolls. That's because U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Larson in Riverside also lifted his stay of an order giving archrival Mattel Inc. control of the Bratz assets.

MGA Entertainment Inc. Chief Executive Isaac Larian said the maker of Bratz dolls cut 70 jobs because of "high legal fees" incurred in its lawsuit with Mattel Inc. The Van Nuys toy maker has 1,600 employees. Closely held MGA and El Segundo-based Mattel, the maker of Barbie, are in a dispute over the creation of the Bratz dolls.

MGA Entertainment, the maker of Bratz fashion dolls, may sell shares to the public as early as this year, Chief Executive Isaac Larian said Friday. The Van Nuys company is in talks with investment banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, Larian said. MGA is challenging Mattel Inc.'s Barbie with the popularity of the Bratz line of dolls. An initial public offering would help the toy maker expand the Bratz line, which was introduced in 2001.

Mattel Inc. said it filed suit against a former employee, accusing him of working for a rival and violating his employment contract with Mattel. The suit charges that Carter Bryant secretly worked for a competitor while still employed by the El Segundo-based toy maker and that he misappropriated intellectual property, Mattel said. Mattel declined to comment on which competitor Bryant worked for.

The maker of Bratz dolls has asked a judge to block testimony from an expert witness expected to claim that Mattel Inc. is owed about $1.6 billion in lost profit and other damages from the popular dolls, according to court documents obtained Wednesday. MGA Entertainment Inc. filed the motion after a federal jury ruled last week that the designer of MGA's Bratz characters conceived the idea for the dolls while working for Mattel.

The Bratz doll maker had another bad day in federal court Tuesday, but fans of the sassy dolls were given hope that the girls will live to see another Christmas. Bratz manufacturer MGA Entertainment Inc. lost a bid to remain in the Bratz business past Feb. 11, the date of a hearing set earlier in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

MGA Entertainment Inc.'s Bratz dolls, which were found to infringe Mattel Inc.'s copyrights, can be sold this year, a federal judge ruled, modifying a decision that could have resulted in an earlier ban. U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson in Riverside ruled Wednesday that retailers would be allowed to buy the spring and fall lines of the pouty, multiethnic dolls from MGA until Dec. 31, or from either Mattel or a court-appointed receiver if he awards them rights to the infringing Bratz products.

MGA Entertainment Inc. has won a stay of the court-ordered recall of its Bratz dolls that were found to infringe the copyrights of rival toy maker Mattel Inc. "The equitable relief granted by the District Court is stayed pending further order of this court," a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals said in an order Thursday following oral arguments in Pasadena on MGA's appeal of the trial verdict. "The parties are ordered to attempt to settle the dispute through expedited participation in this court's mediation program," the court added.

MGA Entertainment Inc., the maker of Bratz dolls and other toys, may sell shares in an initial public offering, Chief Executive Isaac Larian said Thursday. But plans to go public are still far off, with Larian saying in an e-mail from Italy that it would happen "eventually." "It will be a few years before we can rebuild our company," he said. Van Nuys-based MGA makes toys, games, consumer electronics, home decor, stationery and sporting goods. Its toys include Little Tikes, Moxie Girlz and Rescue Pets, but the company is best known for its sexily dressed Bratz dolls, which are at the center of a bitter copyright dispute between MGA and toy giant Mattel Inc. Gerrick Johnson, a toy analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said he thought a public offering would be well-received by the investment community and would help MGA gain access to capital as it looks to expand its product lines.