LOS ANGELES (CN) – Mattel revived a decade-old legal battle with a Chinese toymaker over the rights to CEO Barbie’s head.
Mattel sued Excite, of Hong Kong, and its Texas-based affiliate on New Year’s Eve in Federal Court last week, on copyright, trademark, misappropriation unjust enrichment claims.
Mattel claims Excite violated a court order barring it from misappropriating a design used on millions of dolls and licensed Barbie products.
El Segundo-based Mattel sued Excite in 2005, accusing it of “infringing, diluting and otherwise misappropriating Mattel’s intellectual property, ” and the companies settled that year and Excite was enjoined from infringing on Mattel’s intellectual property rights, Mattel says.
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However, “Despite their actual knowledge of Mattel’s rights and despite the agreement and the injunction prohibiting further misappropriation by defendants, defendants have sold, and are continuing to sell, dolls that use heads which are copies of Mattel’s CEO Barbie doll head, ” the lawsuit states.
Mattel says the infringement is “willful, ” deprives it of “hard-earned good will” and is “deceiving the consuming public.”
