BARBIE AND BRATZ GO TO COURT
Seems that things are not cozy or even chummy in Barbie's world these days since Bratz dolls have taken the market share from the fashionista. As if things weren't bad enough with the Mattel family of dolls over the past couple of years, now they have to add a legal challenge to their pot of problems. Here's the sad story so far:
The maker of Barbie dolls, Mattel, has argued that it should own the rights to Barbie's younger rivals, the popular Bratz dolls range. The toy giant argued at the start of a court case that the 10-inch characters were created by a former employee while he was still working for Mattel. It wants competitor MGA Entertainment to stop selling Bratz products. But MGA contends that Carter Bryant came up with the Bratz designs when not working for Mattel. The smaller rival says Mr Bryant first had the idea in 1998, when he had been out of Mattel's employment for eight months, and that the dolls were developed by MGA engineers in late 2000 and 2001.
Here are some doll statistics regarding the group:
June 2001: Bratz dolls launchedMain characters: Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha and Jade dressed in urban fashions
September 2004: Bratz outsell Barbie in the UK
September 2005: Bratz animated TV series airs
August 2007: Bratz online community launched
But in the opening day of evidence in California, an attorney for Mattel said Mr Bryant's sketches were done on Mattel notepaper and that he worked on the designs for a year while still working for the company.
"MGA didn't hire him straight away," said Mattel attorney John Quinn. "They polished the fashion doll design using Mattel resources and Mattel personnel."
Earlier this month, Mattel dropped its claim against designer Carter Bryant for $35m in royalties he had been paid by MGA Entertainment for his work on the Bratz dolls. MGA said Mattel's claims against it were "equally baseless" and said it intended to counter-sue for $1bn in damages at the end of the current court case. Barbie has slipped in popularity since the launch of the Bratz franchise in 2001. As well as dolls, the Bratz product range includes clothes for young girls, stationery and a feature-length movie featuring the characters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7423435.stm
Extra: Barbie comments on the case!
In a recent interview with the newly released Barbie from her cardboard prison located in a warehouse... somewhere, the glamorous symbol of the vinyl set for her part, says that she only wants what is rightfully hers. Whatever that is once the dust settles.
"Designer shoes...designer outfits...designer purses...limos...my needs are simple," Barbie said, when asked for a reaction to what is happening, "especially compared to those Bratz girls! I hear they even got their own TV series! That's it! I'm suing!"
GI Joe who happened to be sitting next to her, came to her defence.
"Yeah - she only wants what's hers! D'ya think it was easy having to live in a cardboard box? Well I can tell 'ya - it wasn't! It was hard! Read hard! No bullets...no tanks... Nothing! No way to defend everyone from the enemy. Right babe?"
More updates as they occur.
Seems that things are not cozy or even chummy in Barbie's world these days since Bratz dolls have taken the market share from the fashionista. As if things weren't bad enough with the Mattel family of dolls over the past couple of years, now they have to add a legal challenge to their pot of problems. Here's the sad story so far:
The maker of Barbie dolls, Mattel, has argued that it should own the rights to Barbie's younger rivals, the popular Bratz dolls range. The toy giant argued at the start of a court case that the 10-inch characters were created by a former employee while he was still working for Mattel. It wants competitor MGA Entertainment to stop selling Bratz products. But MGA contends that Carter Bryant came up with the Bratz designs when not working for Mattel. The smaller rival says Mr Bryant first had the idea in 1998, when he had been out of Mattel's employment for eight months, and that the dolls were developed by MGA engineers in late 2000 and 2001.
Here are some doll statistics regarding the group:
June 2001: Bratz dolls launchedMain characters: Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha and Jade dressed in urban fashions
September 2004: Bratz outsell Barbie in the UK
September 2005: Bratz animated TV series airs
August 2007: Bratz online community launched
But in the opening day of evidence in California, an attorney for Mattel said Mr Bryant's sketches were done on Mattel notepaper and that he worked on the designs for a year while still working for the company.
"MGA didn't hire him straight away," said Mattel attorney John Quinn. "They polished the fashion doll design using Mattel resources and Mattel personnel."
Earlier this month, Mattel dropped its claim against designer Carter Bryant for $35m in royalties he had been paid by MGA Entertainment for his work on the Bratz dolls. MGA said Mattel's claims against it were "equally baseless" and said it intended to counter-sue for $1bn in damages at the end of the current court case. Barbie has slipped in popularity since the launch of the Bratz franchise in 2001. As well as dolls, the Bratz product range includes clothes for young girls, stationery and a feature-length movie featuring the characters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7423435.stm
Extra: Barbie comments on the case!
In a recent interview with the newly released Barbie from her cardboard prison located in a warehouse... somewhere, the glamorous symbol of the vinyl set for her part, says that she only wants what is rightfully hers. Whatever that is once the dust settles.
"Designer shoes...designer outfits...designer purses...limos...my needs are simple," Barbie said, when asked for a reaction to what is happening, "especially compared to those Bratz girls! I hear they even got their own TV series! That's it! I'm suing!"
GI Joe who happened to be sitting next to her, came to her defence.
"Yeah - she only wants what's hers! D'ya think it was easy having to live in a cardboard box? Well I can tell 'ya - it wasn't! It was hard! Read hard! No bullets...no tanks... Nothing! No way to defend everyone from the enemy. Right babe?"
More updates as they occur.
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