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MGA liable for abuse of dominance but no damages: High Court of England and Wales dismisses Cabo’s £90m claim as Worldeez unviable; IP litigation threats unjustified

Published on: 20 June 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter
Legal News
Article summary

High Court judge Kelyn Bacon dismissed a claim by startup toy company Cabo Concepts Ltd (Cabo) seeking up to £90m in damages, finding that its Worldeez collectables would not have turned a profit even if MGA, which was already marketing the hit rival range LOL Surprise, had not abused a dominant position. In a 148-page ruling, Bacon J observed that Cabo’s founders were ‘naive and inexperienced, and lacked the operational capabilities that would have been needed to give a better prospect of commercial success’. She said Cabo began trading on ‘hopelessly unrealistic financial projections’ and would have remained loss-making without ‘extraordinarily high sales volumes’. Cabo further contended that MGA’s chief executive, Isaac Larian, regarded Worldeez as a threat to LOL Surprise after first learning about it back in 2017...

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