In a landmark ruling yesterday, a federal judge decided that Bratz are a formal subsidiary of Mattel. The Bratz brand, produced by a separate company headed up by a former Mattel employee, brings in about $500 million yearly. A jury will decide monetary damages to be awarded to Mattel in a separate proceeding. The employee in question signed an agreement with Mattel while working for them which stated that anything he created while employed by them was their legal property. He shopped photos of the Bratz dolls within a month of leaving Mattel and the toys hit store shelves within five months. The employee in question reached a confidential settlement with Mattel on the eve of the trial and the company dropped its lawsuit against him. As far as the companies go however, I’m sure we’ll be seeing Barbie and Bratz working closely together very soon. ...
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