A hearing is set for October in Mattel’s motion asking...

antitrust grounds in February in U.S. District Court, L.A. The complaint alleged Mattel engaged in unfair business practices and anticompetitive practices in seeking to freeze Bratz products out of the market. Mattel, which filed a motion to dismiss the case in March, has argued the suit repeats allegations from earlier legal actions and seeks to split claims, something that is barred by federal law. Mattel also is seeking a retrial after a federal jury in April rejected claims that MGA stole the idea for Bratz products. The jury turned aside Mattel copyright infringement claims and slapped the company with $88.4 million in economic damages. The jury found Mattel stole 26 of 114 trade secrets MGA listed. MGA’s sales declined from $800 million five years ago to $50 million, analysts said. Mattel is awaiting U.S. District Court Judge David Carter’s ruling on its motion for retrial and has maintained that MGA CEO Isaac Larian’s testimony poisoned the jury. Mattel spent about $400 million on the long-running legal battle, analysts said. MGA, which requested $161 million in legal fees after the second jury verdict, agreed to a court discovery master’s recommendation for $108 million, according to court records. MGA’s request was “both fair and reasonable and supported by the record,” discovery master Robert O'Brien said in a decision unsealed earlier this month. O'Brien recommended that Mattel pay $84 million to compensate MGA for defending Mattel’s copyright infringement claims and $23 million to cover legal fees associated with MGA’s trade secrets claims against Mattel. “We were disappointed with the jury verdict and by no means is this over,” Mattel CEO Robert Eckert said Friday in an earnings conference call. “The verdict wasn’t supported by the evidence or the law.” Mattel incurred about $6 million in Q2 in costs tied to the case and expects to spend another $26 million on it in the second half, Chief Financial Officer Robert Farr said. Meanwhile, Mattel’s Q2 profit improved to $80.5 million from $51.6 million as net revenue rose to $1.16 billion from $1 billion a year earlier, company officials said. Analysts had forecast Q2 sales of $1.11 billion. Sales of Mattel’s entertainment products, including those tied to movies and Radica electronics gear, rose 41 percent, Farr said. Mattel also has licenses to develop products for Pixar/Disney’s Brave 3D movie that’s due next June and Planes, which arrives in 2013. Mattel recently signed a deal with DreamWorks for several movies, including Madagascar 3, the company has said.