The judge weighing Mattel Inc.’s bid to ban rival MGA Entertainment Inc. from making and selling its Bratz dolls after a copyright-infringement finding is struggling with the toymaker’s request, he said.

“This is the struggle I have with this case,” U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson said at a Nov. 10 hearing in Riverside. “The measurable value to Bratz, the brand Bratz, the doll Bratz and everything that came with it, is so much a function of what Isaac Larian and his team put into it.” Larian is MGA’s majority owner and chief executive officer.

“At the same time, respecting the jury’s finding that the idea Bratz, the name Bratz, were improperly obtained, with the tortuous interference claims, that creates a struggle,” the judge went on. “To take everything that is of value and return it to its rightful owner is quite a leap.”

Larson he’ll rule within two weeks and that if he issues an injunction it won’t take effect until January, after holiday sales.

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