MGA Entertainment vs. Mattel -- Fact vs. Fiction

LOS ANGELES--(Business Wire)--
MGA Entertainment, Inc., announced today that as a result of
misunderstandings surrounding some of the allegations involved in its
trial with Mattel regarding the Bratz brand, it has issued the
following clarification on facts versus fiction emanating from the
trial, according to MGA Entertainment:

Mattel:

Carter Bryant got the name BRATZ(R) from Mattel because at one
time Mattel wanted to name their Diva Starz (Mattel (TM)) line
'Brats.'

Fact:

-- Mattel has not sued MGA for trademark infringement and has not
asserted any claim against the "BRATZ" name, which is the
exclusive worldwide trademark of MGA.

-- The Bratz(R) name has been in the marketplace since 1994. It
was the name of children's clothing brand. The Bratz(R) name
was registered to Curt Lovins who assigned it to MGA in 2002.
In fact, Mr. Lovins' Bratz clothing is currently sold
exclusively at Costco.

-- Ivy Ross, who was Mattel's SVP of Product Design of the Girls
Division when Carter Bryant was employed there, testified
during trial that there was no reason for Bryant to have been
included on a distribution list that discussed the potential
use of the name 'Brats.'

-- Jill Nordquist, a Mattel Director who worked and met with
Carter Bryant everyday when he was employed at Mattel,
testified that she never knew Mattel considered the name
'Brats' for Diva Starz.

-- Mattel has never used the name 'Brats' or 'Bratz,' because
they cannot. It belongs to MGA.

Mattel:

MGA and Isaac Larian concealed Bratz(R) and Carter Bryant's
involvement with the brand.

Fact:

-- In October 2000, Jill Nordquist of Mattel testified that she
suspected Carter Bryant was going to work for a competitor

-- In December 2000, MGA disclosed to large retailers that Carter
Bryant was the designer of the Bratz drawings, which would
serve as the inspiration for the creation of the Bratz dolls

-- In January 2001 at the Hong Kong Toy Fair, MGA invited Mateo
Romano, Mattel's Director for Latin America, to the MGA
showroom in Hong Kong. He attended and MGA showed him all of
the Bratz prototypes and the drawings. (Trial Exhibit
00911-01)

-- Mattel's representative from Latin America took pictures of
MGA's showroom, Bratz prototypes and Bratz drawings.

-- Mateo Romano and his boss were later invited to MGA's booth at
the New York Toy Fair in February, 2001 to see the further
development of the Bratz line. At that time, Mattel Latin
America was asked to consider being the distributor of Bratz
in Latin America. (Trial Exhibit 16925-001)

-- Mateo Romano of Mattel wrote in an email to Martin Hitch of
MGA saying "I regret to inform you that this year (Mattel)
will not be carrying any product from MGA; the reason is
because some products are very similar to our own concepts and
this is a very sensitive issue with the brand groups (Bratz
and Samantha)...."(Exhibit 16935-001)

-- In February 2001, Mattel employees attending the Tokyo Toy
Fair shot a video of the Bratz display and drawings, which
were openly presented at the Toy Fair. They titled the video
"Here Come the Bratz" and sent it to Mattel headquarters.

-- MGA publicly advertised Bratz and the drawings in 2001 New
York Toy Fair publications such as The Toy Book and Toy Fair
News.

-- Jill Nordquist testified that she and other employees at
Mattel, including Ann Parduchi (a Senior VP) knew by summer
2001 that Carter Bryant was the designer of Bratz.

-- In 2002 MGA openly filed copyright applications for drawings
of the Bratz dolls in Brazil, which identified Carter Bryant
as the author. Mattel obtained those registrations from
Brazil. (EXHIBIT 1703-0001).

-- In 2002, Carter Bryant was disclosed as the designer of the
Bratz drawings on a publicly available Yahoo-Bratz Fan
website.

-- In 2003 MGA openly told The Wall Street Journal that Carter
Bryant was the designer behind the Bratz drawings. Mattel, in
the same article, didn't reveal who the designer was of its
failed Flava (Mattel (TM)) dolls or My Scene (Mattel (TM))
dolls.

-- In August 2003, Mattel's Bob Eckert received an anonymous
letter which advised him that Carter Bryant was the creator of
Bratz and had worked with MGA

-- Mattel claims it "lost" its October 2000 phone records for
Carter Bryant, which would have revealed what contact Bryant
may have had with MGA in his last month of employment with
Mattel

Mattel:

The key reason and "core" of the success of the Bratz brand are
Carter Bryant's drawings that the jury found belongs to Mattel. These
drawings are "similar" to what Lilli Martinez, Mattel's Senior Manager
of Product Design, drew at Mattel called Toon Teens.

Fact:

-- As noted by Mattel's lawyer in closing argument: there have
only been two successful fashion dolls: Barbie and Bratz.
However, Mattel and others have introduced many fashion dolls
over the years that have failed - despite the existence of
good concept drawings

-- If the Bratz(R) success was based solely on Bryant's concept
drawings, why didn't Mattel's My Scene (Mattel (TM)) fashion
doll, an imitation of Bratz done by Lilli Martinez two years
after Bratz, succeed and why is it no longer sold in the US?
The same applies to Mattel's Flavas (Mattel (TM)) and Diva
Starz (Mattel (TM)) fashion dolls which failed to effectively
compete with Bratz - and by Mattel's lawyer's admission were
not successful

-- If that was true, Mattel would have sued for copyright
infringement based on Toon Teens but they did not and Toon
Teens is not part of this case.

-- If that's the case, why are Mattel's 3-D interpretations of
Lilli Martinez' 2- D drawings of Toon Teens are so different
from MGA's 3-D (doll) interpretation of Carter Bryant's 2-D
drawings?

-- If the Bratz success was based solely on Carter Bryant's
drawings, why didn't Mattel's My Scene (Mattel (TM)) brand, an
imitation of Bratz done by Lilli Martinez two years after
Bratz, succeed and why is it no longer sold in the US?

-- Why did Mattel's Flavaz (Mattel (TM)) line of dolls with pouty
lips, big head, big eyes, small nose, and big shoes, supported
by all the might of Mattel, the biggest toy company in the
world, fail?

-- The creativity that MGA's employees applied to the Bratz brand
after 2001 was a key factor in producing dolls that girls
would want to buy in order to add to their collection of Bratz
dolls.

Mattel:

Bratz dolls are "substantially similar" to Carter Bryant's
drawings.

Fact:

-- Mattel offered no witness at trial who took this position.

-- Lilli Martinez, Mattel's corporate representative in this
trial stated, "You can't compare 2-D drawings with 3-D
(models)."

-- If all of MGA's Bratz dolls are "substantially similar" to
Carter Bryant's drawings, why do they bother and make new
dolls with new themes every year?

-- During closing arguments, Kennedy put it best : "Can you see a
parent saying to their child, 'Why do you want that? You have
a 'substantially similar' doll back home."

For more information and facts please check www.mgae.com

Silver Public Relations
David Silver, 213-488-6161
info@silverpr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008