36
C
ASE: 5
You Be the Judge!
You Be the Judge!
Sources
The case brie ng above contains excerpts and direct extractions from the sources noted
below that have been combined with the author's own expert legal input. The case has
been condensed and formatted from its original content for purposes of this workbook.
Mattel, Inc. v. MGA Entertainment, Inc., 616 F.3d 904 (9th Cir. 2010).
United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
July 22, 2010. Opinion written by the Honorable Chief Justice Alex Kozinski.
Ruth Handler, creator of
Barbie and Ken, named
the dolls after her
daughter Barbara and
son Kenneth.
A situation which has a
potential to undermine
the impartiality of a
person because of the
possibility of a clash
between the persons
self-interest and
professional interest
is known as confl ict of
interest.
any future events that raised a question of con ict of interest.
A er Bryant le employment, Mattel's CEO alleged that he had
received an anonymous letter stating that Bryant had created the
Bratz doll while working at Mattel and that Bryant had taken a vaca-
tion day from Mattel to discuss the doll with MGA Entertainment.
As evidence, Mattel produced a new employment agreement between
Bryant and MGA Entertainment that Bryant signed September 18,
2000, while Bryant was still employed by Mattel.
Pursuant to MGA Entertainment's employment agreement,
Bryant agreed to provide product design services for MGA's line of
Bratz dolls. In return, MGA Entertainment agreed to pay Bryant
$5,500 per month for the rst six months and $5,000 per month for
the next three months. In addition, MGA Entertainment also agreed
to pay Bryant a 3% royalty on the future sales of the Bratz line.
Bryant testi ed during trial that the sketches he showed MGA
Entertainment in 2000 were transferred from originals he made in
the summer of 1998 in between his two periods of employment with
Mattel. Bryant testi ed that observing students walking from school,
browsing through Steve Madden shoe ads in Seventeen, and look-
ing at the cover of the Dixie Chicks album "Chicks With Attitude"
inspired the sketches. Bryant claimed that since he was a clothing
designer for Barbie, the sketches at issue had nothing to do with his
work at Mattel.
For Evaluation Purposes Only