Bratz trial nearing an end

Mattel attorney John Quinn told a Riverside jury that rival toymaker MGA Entertainment helped the creator of the lucrative Bratz dolls hide the fact that he did his creating on Mattel's time. "This was a perfect marriage of an individual willing to betray his employer and a company needing him to do exactly that," Quinn said in his final arguments. From Reuters:

The central question before the nine-member jury is whether Bryant made the original drawings upon which the franchise is based while he was working at Mattel, or during an eight-month hiatus from the El Segundo, California toy giant in 1998. On Thursday, Quinn said the evidence showed Bryant had added 1998 dates to drawings long after the fact and had torn out drawings from a notebook that contained dated drawings from 1999.

MGA contends that Mattel sued only after the Bratz line proved so successful. The case should be going to the jury in the next few days.