Greenberg Glusker today announced that it won a copyright and trademark infringement and breach of contract dispute on behalf of its client, Ubisoft Entertainment, one of the world’s largest video game publishers. Attorneys Stephen Smith of Greenberg Glusker, partnering with Dale Kinsella of Kinsella, Weitzman, Iser, Kump & Aldisert, represented Ubisoft in an American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitration against MGA Entertainment, the owner of Bratz™ dolls, resulting in a $13 million judgment in Ubisoft’s favor.
"We are thrilled with the result, and we feel completely vindicated,” said Ubisoft’s General Counsel Cecile Russeil. “Our lawyers mastered every aspect of the case, which required them to thoroughly understand the nature of our video gaming business.”
In 2002, Ubisoft entered into a license with MGA to publish video games based on the Bratz™ dolls. Due to the overwhelming, increasing popularity of the Bratz™ dolls, in 2003 MGA sought to force a renegotiation of the license by terminating the license without cause and on pretextual grounds. When Ubisoft refused to give in to MGA’s bad faith demands, MGA sued. Ubisoft counter-sued, alleging that MGA’s termination of the license was a breach of contract and invalid.
In an effort to justify its wrongful termination, MGA sought to place at issue every aspect of Ubisoft’s handling of the Bratz™ license, which required the legal team to become intimately familiar with Ubisoft’s development, manufacturing, marketing and sales operations.
“Our relationship with Ubisoft went far beyond the normal lawyer-client relationship,” said Stephen Smith, who was lead counsel in the matter. “We effectively became an extension of our client, learning everything about Ubisoft’s business from its most senior management.”
Ultimately, the arbitrator ruled in favor of Ubisoft, awarding it $13 million in lost profits damages, attorney’s fees and interest, and rejecting all of MGA’s claims. After the arbitration award was confirmed by the Los Angeles Superior Court, MGA stipulated to entry of judgment in the amount of $13.2 million.
“This arbitration was a textbook example of effective cooperation between an internal legal team and its external counsel,” said lead Ubisoft in-house counsel Virginie Gringarten. “We are extremely pleased with the results.”