MGA may get breathing room in Bratz case
By Staff -- Playthings, 12/31/2008 9:59:00 AM
LOS ANGELES—The judge overseeing Mattel’s case against MGA Entertainment over the rights to the Bratz doll franchise has agreed to consider a request by MGA to allow it to continue to manufacture and market new dolls past the Feb. 11, 2009 deadline set earlier this month.
MGA requested a stay of the court’s February deadline at a hearing this week to allay concerns that the doll line’s availability in 2009 needed to be rapidly established in light of the imminent beginning of the retail ordering season.
Judge Stephen Larson called MGA’s motion to stay his Dec. 3 decision halting Bratz distribution while the toymaker’s appeals are ongoing “premature at this junction,” but in an order issued on Dec. 30 he did say that “MGA has convinced the court that a modification of its current stay order to address concerns regarding the 2009 retail buying season is appropriate.”
He gave MGA until January 2 to file proposed language for modifications of the court’s original order and will take up the issue at a hearing on January 5. At that time, Larson will also address a request by Mattel to appoint a receiver to oversee MGA and its Bratz business in the face of host of allegations Mattel has made about MGA’s financial situation.
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