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Bratz Doll Manufacturer Switches Lawyers -- Again
The National Law Journal
July 10, 2009
The manufacturer of Bratz dolls has replaced its lawyers for the second time this year in preparation for the next phase of its long-running copyright battle with Mattel Inc., which makes Barbie dolls.
MGA Entertainment Inc. is appealing a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson of the Central District of California that upheld a $100 million jury verdict reached last year against the company for copyright infringement and breach of contract. A second phase of the case is expected to focus on, among other things, Mattel's claims that MGA stole trade secrets.
The jury concluded that the designer of the Bratz dolls came up with the idea while in Mattel's employ.
In a Tuesday order, Larson approved MGA's request to replace its current attorneys -- Patricia Glaser, of Los Angeles-based Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard & Shapiro, and Russell J. Frackman, a partner at Los Angeles-based Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp -- with a team of attorneys from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe led by Annette L. Hurst in San Francisco. Three other Orrick attorneys -- Melinda Haag, Warrington S. Parker III and William A. Molinski -- are joining MGA's legal team, as well.
The counsel swap is the second so far this year for MGA, which in January replaced Thomas Nolan, a partner in the Los Angeles office of New York's Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, with Glaser and Frackman. Nolan, co-chairman of Skadden's West Coast litigation practice, handled the jury trial last year.
Neither Glaser nor Frackman returned calls for comment.
Hurst focuses on intellectual property litigation, particularly copyright, trademark and trade secrets litigation. In 2003, she successfully argued a case against Mattel on behalf of a photographer who used Barbie in his artwork. Mattel v. Walking Mtn. Prods., 353 F.3d 792 (9th Cir. 2003).
Haag, also in San Francisco, is the former chief of the white-collar crime section of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of California. She has represented numerous companies and individuals in stock options backdating cases.
Parker, who is of counsel in Orrick's San Francisco and Menlo Park, Calif., offices, is a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles who specializes in litigation and appeals involving trade secrets misappropriation.
Molinski is an intellectual property partner in Los Angeles.
MGA retained a fifth Orrick partner, E. Joshua Rosenkranz of New York, to handle its appeal before the 9th Circuit. Rosenkranz, who frequently argues before the U.S. Supreme Court, heads Orrick's Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice.
Parker referred calls to Hurst, who did not return a phone call seeking comment. None of the other Orrick attorneys returned calls for comment.
Carter Bryant v. Mattel Inc., No. 2:04-cv-09049 (C.D. Calif.).
