Credibility Eliminator

Mattel Inc. is an enthusiastic litigant. In the name of defending Barbie's honor, the company has used trademark and copyright law as a cudgel to fight strippers, musicians, and most recently its competitor MGA Entertainment and former employee Carter Bryant.

MGA Entertainment makes the Bratz dolls, an increasingly popular doll that is "edgier" than Barbie. Mattel said those dolls infringe their copyrights.

Mattel reached a settlement with former employee Bryant in May; but they're still suing their competitor, claiming that Bryant was a Mattel employee when he created Bratz. If they can prove that, they will assert ownership over the $500 million Bratz product line.

The trial is underway in Los Angeles. Mattel is represented by Quinn Emanuel, MGA by Skadden Arps. On Tuesday a judge ruled that Mattel lawyers can present evidence that Bryant deleted a bunch of data from his hard drive shortly after Mattel first sued him in 2004. The name of the program he used—"Evidence Eliminator." Ouch. The judge was unimpressed.

NOTE: original post incorrectly stated that MGA was represented by Keker & Van Nest; that law firm represents only Carter Bryant, not MGA. It also stated the copyright claims were resolved on summary judgment.

UPDATE: Carter Bryant testified Thursday, see reports from the AP and the LA Times.

 

Comments

[Michael]

Actually, Skadden represents MGA. Keker represents Bryant.

[Joe Mullin]

Thanks, I stand corrected.

[Boyz]

Bryant is a silly man but Mattel are the definition of a corporate illness at work. They waited five years to bring this up? They should be thrown out.

[anon]

Is this really supposed to be a legal site? The copyright claim was not thrown out on summary judgment, as even a casual follower would know. To the contrary, the judge entered summary judgment in Mattel's favor on MGA's statute of limitations defense to the copyright claim. The judge also ruled that any Bratz-related creations made by Bryant while a Mattel employee are owned by Mattel and that Bryant's work with MGA while a Mattel employee violated his duties to Mattel.

[Joe Mullin]

OK, I'm 0 for 2 on this one. Not my best day, but it's fixed.