The jury found in favor of toy giant Mattel today in its suit against MGA Entertainment, the maker of the Bratz doll line.

In the suit, Mattel alleged Bratz designer Carter Bryant created the characters and names while still working for Mattel. According to their employment agreement, anything created by Bryant under employment belongs to Mattel.

What this mean is that Mattel now owns the right to the Bratz drawings and sculpts.

In the next phase of the trial due to begin on July 23, the preceding will focus on whether or not the Bratz dolls infringed on those drawings and sculpts. If they do, expect huge amounts of money to be awarded to Mattel.

Update 8/26/2008:
The jury awarded Mattel $100 million in damages, short of the $2 billion it was asking for. The issue of whether MGA can continue to sell the Bratz dolls will be decided at a later hearing.

Update 12/08/2008:
The court awarded control of the Bratz copyright to Mattel on Dec 4th -- meaning that Mattel is now the rightful owner of the Bratz toy line.

Update 1/08/2009:
Even though MGA lost control of the Bratz doll line to Mattel, a court order on Jan 7, 2009 by Judge Stephen Larson allowed MGA to continue selling the dolls.