Lawyers for MGA Entertainment Inc. have notified a federal court that the Van Nuys toymaker intends to appeal a permanent injunction preventing the company from making and selling its Bratz dolls.

In the motion that was filed late Thursday, MGA lawyers also ask U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Larson to delay enforcing his Dec. 3 order requiring the company to turn over all Bratz dolls, models, marketing material and related items to rival Mattel Inc. The trendy Bratz fashion dolls were found to infringe on El Segundo Mattel’s copyrights.

Larson’s order wasn’t going to be enforced until after he ruled on the parties’ post-trial motions at a February hearing. In the motion filed Thursday, MGA argues that if the permanent injunction is not stayed pending its appeal to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, than “the consequences for MGA will be catastrophic.”

The 35-page motion filed by MGA also argues that if the court doesn’t stay the permanent injunction beyond the February timetable, it could kill off the Bratz brand and harm retailers during the down economy.

A jury earlier this year awarded Mattel $100 million in damages a fraction of the $2 billion it was seeking after finding that a Mattel doll designer came up with the Bratz name and characters while working for the company and improperly took the idea to MGA. Mattel then filed for the permanent injunction.

Since hitting store shelves in 2001, Bratz dolls cut into sales of Mattel’s Barbie dolls. During the trial, MGA said Bratz sales from 2001 to June totaled $3.1 billion.