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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - MGA Entertainment Inc will seek a mistrial in the Bratz dolls copyright infringement case it lost to Mattel Inc <MAT.N>, after a juror was accused of making racial slurs against MGA Chief Executive Isaac Larian, the companies said on Friday. The juror's dismissal and allegations of prejudice throw into doubt a potential billion-dollar-plus damages award sought by Mattel and the outcome of the first phase of the trial, in which the same jury awarded Mattel rights to dozens of original Bratz drawings and sculpts. The juror was dismissed from the federal case in Riverside, California after another panelist complained to the judge about the comments about Larian, an Iranian Jew who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, representatives from both companies said. "I moved today for a mistrial arguing that Mr. Larian and MGA are entitled in the federal system to a unanimous verdict of all jurors and that all jurors must be impartial and not have hidden prejudices. The judge suspended the presentation of further evidence, has asked for the parties to file legal briefs this next week," MGA lawyer Thomas Nolan told Reuters. Mattel said in a statement that it "finds this development to be very unfortunate. "This trial, however, has been and will continue to be about Mr. Larian's and MGA's wrongful behavior. Nothing changes that," the statement said. (Reporting by Gina Keating, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
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