Ms. B. Roberts Kicks Azz

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themanintheseersuckersuit
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Ms. B. Roberts Kicks Azz

#1 Post by themanintheseersuckersuit » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:27 am

Judge Bars MGA From Producing, Selling Bratz Dolls

Associated Press

The rowdy Bratz dolls have been evicted. Barbie has regained control of the dollhouse.

Toy giant Mattel Inc. (MAT: 13.20, -0.22, -1.64%), after a four-year legal dispute with MGA Entertainment Inc., touted its win in the case Wednesday after a federal judge banned MGA from making and selling its pouty-lipped and hugely popular Bratz dolls.

"It's a pretty sweeping victory," Mattel attorney Michael Zeller said. "They have no right to use Bratz for any goods or services at all."

U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson rocked the toy industry with his order that MGA must immediately stop manufacturing Bratz. He allowed MGA to wait until the holiday season ends to remove the toys from store shelves.

The decision was a stunning defeat for MGA, which exploded onto the tween scene in 2001 with the edgy dolls and made hundreds of millions in profits, giving Mattel's more classic doll-diva Barbie a run for her money.

The ruling, issued in federal court in Riverside, followed a jury's finding that Bratz designer Carter Bryant developed the concept for the dolls while working for Mattel.

The same jury later awarded Mattel $10 million for copyright infringement and $90 million for breach of contract after a lengthy trial stemming from Mattel's 2004 lawsuit ended in August.

MGA spokesman Sandra Ravan did not immediately return a call for comment late Wednesday. It was unclear if MGA planned to appeal Larson's ruling.

Mattel has fought to neutralize the Bratz line for years. The dolls — with their huge lips, pug noses, almond-shaped eyes and coquettish figures — were an instant hit with young girls. MGA had taken Bryant's original four dolls and spun out a line of more than 40 characters, complete with accessories and related toys such as Bratz Boyz, Bratz Petz and Baby Bratz.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/market ... rat-dolls/
Suitguy is not bitter.

feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive

The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.

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gsabc
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Re: Ms. B. Roberts Kicks Azz

#2 Post by gsabc » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:33 am

"It was unclear if MGA planned to appeal Larson's ruling."

Well, duh!
I just ordered chicken and an egg from Amazon. I'll let you know.

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littlebeast13
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Re: Ms. B. Roberts Kicks Azz

#3 Post by littlebeast13 » Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:17 am

The decision was a stunning defeat for MGA, which exploded onto the tween scene in 2001 with the edgy dolls and made hundreds of millions in profits, giving Mattel's more classic doll-diva Barbie a run for her money.
Grrrrrrrr........ this bothers me everytime I see it!

We had Bratz dolls in 2000! I know, because I put them on the shelf personally that year, not even realizing what the hell they were at the time.... the that's the ONLY year I did Toys for the holiday season!

They may have been using the Wal as a test market at the time, but it just feels so anachronistic everytime I see that 2001 introduction quoted....

lb13

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minimetoo26
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Re: Ms. B. Roberts Kicks Azz

#4 Post by minimetoo26 » Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:21 am

I can't see how the damned things got popular in the first place! My m-i-l bought a used one for Erin at a thrift store, and it was wearing a painted-on thong! A baby doll!

I let the boys toss it off the balcony into the pool at the beach house. She wasted a dollar on that trashy thing.
Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgment, the manner in which information is collected and used.

-Carl Sagan

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tlynn78
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Re: Ms. B. Roberts Kicks Azz

#5 Post by tlynn78 » Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:36 am

I can't see how the damned things got popular in the first place!

My sister and I call them "Ho Starter Kits" and refused to buy them for her granddaughters/my grandnieces.


t.
When reality requires approval, control replaces truth.
To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead. -Thomas Paine
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mellytu74
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Re: Ms. B. Roberts Kicks Azz

#6 Post by mellytu74 » Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:20 pm

Was Mattel represented by Lawyer Barbie and Lawyer Ken?

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