A federal court jury rejected Mattel Inc.’s copyright infringement claims Thursday involving MGA Entertainment’s lucrative line of hip, urban Bratz dolls and awarded MGA $88.4 million for misappropriation of its trade secrets by the Barbie maker.
In a stunning rejection of Mattel’s long-running claims against MGA, the jury found that MGA had proved that Mattel acted willfully and maliciously in misappropriating trade secrets from the smaller company.
MGA attorney Annette Hurst said the judge has discretion to as much as triple the damages.
The jury found that Mattel does not own the idea for the popular Bratz line or any of the sketches that led to the multiethnic dolls with oversized heads and feet, large eyes and lips, and small bodies.
Further verdicts were expected later in the day as the complex, 28-page decision was read in U.S. District Court.
GE’s 1st-quarter profit increases 77 percent
Earnings at General Electric Co. rose 77 percent in the first quarter as its financial services business continued to rebound. But Wall Street was expecting stronger revenue from GE’s industrial side and shares fell.
GE, which makes products as varied as light bulbs, wind turbines and health care equipment, reported net income of $3.43 billion, or 31 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31.
That compares with $1.95 billion, or 17 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Revenue increased 6 percent to $38.45 billion.
The results beat Wall Street forecasts, yet shares dropped about 2 percent. Analysts said they were disappointed that revenue for GE’s industrial businesses rose only 5 percent.
Apple draws fire for mobile phone tracking
Privacy watchdogs are demanding answers from Apple Inc. about why iPhones and iPads are secretly collecting location data on users – records that cellular service providers routinely keep but require a court order to release.
It’s not clear whether other smartphones and tablet computers are logging such information on their users. And this week’s revelation that the Apple devices do so wasn’t even new – some security experts began warning about the issue a year ago.
Researchers emphasize that there’s no evidence that Apple itself has access to this data. The data apparently stays on the device itself and on computers the data is backed up to.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.
iPhone helps Verizon rake in subscribers
Helped by the iPhone, Verizon Wireless is pulling in more high-paying subscribers than it has in a year – and 15 times more than rival AT&T.
Verizon Communications Inc. on Thursday said it added 906,000 wireless subscribers on contract-based plans in the January-to-March period, more than double the number of a year ago.
Verizon started selling the iPhone on Feb. 10.
In total, Verizon said it had activated 2.2 million iPhones, with most going to customers upgrading from other Verizon phones.
Verizon said its net income climbed to $1.44 billion, or 51 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, up from $443 million, or 16 cents per share, a year ago, when results were weighed down by a charge for costs associated with the health care package.
