This article was first published in Lexis Nexis Australian
Intellectual Property Law Bulletin, June 2011, Vol 24 Issue
2.
Google "Bratz and MGA" and you get 6,070,000 hits, but
do the same with "Barbie and Mattel" and you get
11,600,000.
This suggests that while the cheeky urban Bratz dolls had a
moment in the sun earlier this century, particularly in the United
Kingdom and Australia, it was not enough to knock Barbara (Barbie)
Millicent Roberts off her perch as the world's fashion doll
diva. Barbie is still the queen of her category, even at the
advanced age of 52.
Barbie was modelled on the blonde German fashion doll "Bild
Lilli" (herself based on a cartoon character from the German
Bild-Zeitung newspaper). Lilli, who was first manufactured
as a novelty item for men, was sold in Germany from 1955 (four
years before the first Barbie was manufactured in the United
States). Barbie's owner, Mattel, did eventually purchase the
rights to Bild Lilli in 1964 and
