The feud between fashion doll giants MGA Entertainment Inc. and Mattel Inc. got another infusion of legal juice on Monday, when Bratz maker MGA sued Mattel over allegations that the Barbie maker filched trade secrets at toy industry conventions.
Van Nuys-based MGA accuses Mattel of sending corporate spies armed with fake business cards and a “how to steal” manual into private MGA showrooms from 1992 through at least 2009.
There, the agents pilfered MGA price lists, advertising plans and covert product attributes, giving El Segundo-based Mattel “an unfair and illegal advantage in the market” and costing MGA “tens of millions of dollars in damages,” according to MGA’s complaint.
In the suit, which was filed in state superior court in Los Angeles, MGA asks for up to $1 billion in damages and fees.
If there’s a sense of déjà vu, it’s because MGA made the same claims against Mattel in an earlier federal case.