Briefs

A federal judge ordered Mattel to pay $225 million in punitive damages and legal fees for stealing trade secrets from MGA Entertainment, maker of the popular Bratz dolls. The award is in addition to the $85 million in liabilities from an April jury verdict that found Mattel misappropriated trade secrets when its employees got into MGA’s showrooms at toy fairs using phony business cards. MGA CEO Isaac Larian says he will now pursue an antitrust case against Mattel. The two companies have been embroiled in legal disputes since 2004 over the design of the pouty dolls, which MGA began selling in 2001. Mattel did not respond to requests for comment.

AOL increased advertising sales for the first time in three years in the second quarter, yet the new revenue was not enough to offset losses from continued erosion of subscribers to its Web-access subscription services. The loss, announced alongside a reduced annual earnings forecast, helped send AOL’s stock to down to $10.06, its lowest level since it was spun off from Time Warner in 2009. AOL recently purchased the Huffington Post website and is expanding its Patch hyperlocal news sites as it tries to lure advertisers with expanded online content.