[Jemian]

I’m missing something here. The government has ordered a private enterprise to stop making and selling something? What right does the government have to regulate that?

There must be more to this case than what has been reported here.

[SJSAMPLE]

The designer of the Bratz dolls used to work for Mattel.
Mattel sued in court and it was ruled that the Bratz design was created on Mattel time.

[bamahead]

I’m missing something here. The government has ordered a private enterprise to stop making and selling something? What right does the government have to regulate that?

From the article:

The ruling, issued in federal court in Riverside, followed a jury's finding that Bratz designer Carter Bryant developed the concept for the dolls while working for Mattel.

The same jury later awarded Mattel $10 million for copyright infringement and $90 million for breach of contract after a lengthy trial stemming from Mattel's 2004 lawsuit ended in August.

I would assume that there must've been a clause in the designer's contract that stated anything created while employed by Mattel is the intellectual property of Mattel.

This is a pretty common clause in the design business, whether it's fashion, software, or even dolls...

The article is poorly written and doesn't volunteer that information. And the Judge's decision is waaaaay overbearing for these types of cases. Usually, some sizable restitution money changes hands in these types of suits, and they go on making their product. But to force a manufacturer to stop making something is uncommon. Again, probably something missing from the poorly written article.

[Cheburashka]

As explained in the story, it’s called breach of contract.

[VRWCmember]

There must be more to this case than what has been reported here.

If you only read the excerpt and not the article, there is definitely more to the case than what has been reported.

It is a copyright infringement case, and if you are making and selling something that is found to violate someone else's trademark or copyright you can bet your bottom dollar the government will step in and regulate that (and the federal government has a constitutional authority to do so -- it is one of the few constitutional authorities it has.)

[VRWCmember]

What right does the government have to regulate that?

US Constitution, Article I, Section 8
Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; ...
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;...