A U.S. district court judge is expected to reduce the initial $71 million jury award to T.I. and Tiny Harris to $17 million.
In September, the couple won their case against MGA Entertainment for trademark infringement following an allegation that the toy company sold dolls with designs and names similar to the duo’s girl group, OMG Girlz.
On Monday, Judge James Selna issued a tentative ruling that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that MGA Entertainment copied designs from the OMG Girlz and concluded that the lack of proof of infringement does not support the massive payout that T.I. and Tiny received.
Legal journalist Meghan Cuniff, who has covered the case, tweeted in part, “Judge Selna has not finalized his order!”
Update: Judge Selna has not finalized his order! He might change his mind! This is why he issues *tentative* orders before hearings.“There’s a lot to contemplate. I want to put this down for a couple days, and I want to come back to it fresh from the top,” the judge said.— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 7, 2025
In his tentative ruling, Selna concluded, “For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants disgorgement of profits of $17,872,252 under common law misappropriation, but does not award punitive damages. Further, the Court declines to disgorge profits or enhance the award under the Lanham Act.”
The Lanham Act emphasizes proving that a company willfully infringed on an existing trademark. In Selna’s opinion, MGA and the OMG Girlz don’t qualify for punitive damages, but his mind may change once he revisits the case.
