Totally Teed-Off Barbie
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In toy stores she's a dancing princess. But behind the scenes, Barbie is kicking down doors and taking names. In a 58-page complaint filed in federal court in Riverside, Calif., on Nov. 20, Mattel Inc., Barbie's corporate parent, claims archrival MGA Entertainment and its ceo, Isaac Larian, maker of the sassy Bratz dolls, and a number of former Mattel employees stole trade secrets. Mattel bases its case on forensic computer analysis.
Mattel claims that in 2004 three of its employees in Mexico created a private e-mail account, plot04@aol.com, that they used to correspond with mga. One of the employees later tried to destroy his computer's hard drive and use a software program to erase his tracks, according to Mattel.