Federal jury awards Mattel 100 million dollars

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - A federal jury in California has awarded toymaker Mattel 100 million dollars in damages in a federal copyright lawsuit that pitted Barbie dolls against Bratz dolls.

The judgment is far less than the 1.8 billion dollars Barbie-maker Mattel had sought. The jury decided last month that MGA Entertainment was guilty of copyright infringement and contract interference because the designer who came up with the concept for its Bratz dolls was working for Mattel at the time. But jurors rejected any punitive damages against MGA.

MGA hails that as vindication. The company had argued that it made only a few million dollars from the initial dolls and it was the subsequent marketing and development that turned Bratz into a hugely profitable line that includes Bratz Babyz, Bratz Petz and Bratz Boyz