Index:
Bild-Lilli, Barbie's predecessor
Barbie's Manufacturers Markings
Barbie's friends and relatives
Barbie through the ages, 1959 - 2009
Barbie luxury doll to massproduction
The five different collector types
a move that would give Barbie her first serious competition in the fashion
doll market. In 2004 sales figures showed that Bratz dolls were outselling Barbie dolls
in the United Kingdom, although Mattel maintained that in terms of the number of dolls,
clothes and accessories sold, Barbie remained the leading brand In 2005 figures showed
that sales of Barbie dolls had fallen by 30% in the United States, and by 18% worldwide,
with much of the drop being attributed to the popularity of Bratz dolls.
Mattel sued MGA Entertainment for $500 million alleging that Bratz creator Carter Bryant
was working for Mattel when he developed the idea for Bratz. On July 17. 2008,
a federal jury ruled that the Bratz line was created by Carter Bryant while he
was working for Mattel.
The
jury also ruled that MGA and its Chief Executive Officer Isaac Larian
were
liable for converting Mattel property for their own use and intentionally
interfering
with the contractual duties owed by Bryant to Mattel.
On
August 26, the jury found that Mattel would have to be paid US $100 million
in damages.
On
December 3. 2008, U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson banned MGA from selling
Bratz.
He
allowed the company to continue selling the dolls until the winter holiday
season ended.
The
ruling will be in effect on February 11, 2009 at the earliest, and Mattel
and MGA
will
meet in court on that date. According to the terms of the court order,
after the end of
the
holiday season, MGA must remove, at its own cost, all the Bratz dolls from
store shelves,
including
the reimbursement of the cost of the dolls and all shipping costs to its
vendors and
distributors.
The court gave exceptions for some toys if they are packaged separately
from
infringing
toys. MGA announced that it would be appealing against the court's ruling.
