OMG Girlz Pop Group Gets Third IP Trial Over MGA’s Doll Line

Former teen pop group OMG Girlz and rapper T.I. will get a third federal jury trial over whether toy maker MGA Entertainment Inc. ripped off the group’s names and likeness with its line of L.O.L Suprise! OMG Dolls.

US District Judge James Selna on Sept. 15 granted OMG Girlz LLC’s motion for a new trial, finding that he improperly instructed the jury to consider a free speech-trademark balancing test known as Rogers, which has since been altered by the US Supreme Court.

MGA had succeeded in convincing a Los Angeles jury in the Central District of California in May that it’s doll line didn’t rip off the the names, likeness, or trade dress of the OMG Girlz, the pop trio led by Tameka “Tiny” Harris who performed from 2009 to 2015.

Selna denied MGA’s motion for attorneys’ fees in the Sept. 15 order.

OMG Girlz, which was managed by Clifford “T.I.” Harris, sought a new trial after the Supreme Court released its decision in Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC in June, several weeks after the jury returned its verdict. The high court limited the range of cases where courts can apply the Rogers test, which generally favors parties facing trademark infringement claims.

The legal test developed in 1989 allows for the unauthorized use of a trademark as long as the use meets a minimal level of artistic expression and doesn’t explicitly mislead consumers.

The Supreme Court held that the test should only apply to cases where a trademark isn’t being used to identify the source of a good.

“There is no doubt that under Jack Daniel’s, the Rogers test instruction should not have been given,” Selna wrote.

The high profile case has been roiled by claims of racism, cultural appropriation, and unethical behavior by attorneys. The first trial ended in a mistrial in January after attorneys for OMG Girlz introduced testimony about the MGA dolls’ alleged racist cultural appropriation, which Selna had previously prohibited.

Umberg Zipser LLP, Keller Anderle LLP, and in-house counsel represent MGA. Winston and Strawn LLP and Sheppard Mullin Richter and Hampton LLP represent T.I., Tiny Harris, and the OMG Girlz.

The case is MGA Entm’t Inc. v. Harris, C.D. Cal., No. 2:20-cv-11548, 9/15/23.