A doll creator who’s already going to court with Hasbro for allegedly stealing her designs for new versions of My Little Pony and other toys filed an additional lawsuit this week.
Elinor Shapiro, a “world-famous doll inventor” who’s worked on Barbie and Disney Princess dolls in the past claims she came up with the idea of merging My Little Pony figurines and other toys with “the magical play of a snow globe,” according to two federal lawsuits reported by Courthouse News.
She claims she gave Hasbro a detailed presentation, offered up prototypes, and explained her marketing vision. Instead of paying her for her work, she says Hasbro simply trotted out its own version of the dolls.
“About 17 months after first seeing [her submission] Wishables, Hasbro commercially released a new segment in its My Little Pony brand of totally clear, animal-shaped dolls, filled with liquid and glitter shaped to match each character, at the $5.99-$7.99 opening price point, called Rainbow Shimmer in Fall 2014, just as recommended in the Wishables marketing roadmap,” her new federal lawsuit claims.
According to her lawsuit, there hadn’t been any other doll line at that price slot that was based on those elements until Shapiro came up with the idea and strategy for it.
In her first lawsuit, filed in April 2015, she accused Hasbro of breach of contract, copyright infringement and violations of California’s trade secrets laws, involving Rainbow Shimmer ponies and other dolls released in 2014. A jury trial in that case is slated for Sept. 27.
Her new lawsuit drops the copyright claim, but tacks on a violation of the new federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, charging the company with planning to sell an upgraded, light-up version of the Rainbow Shimmer My Little Pony Line like she’d called for when she presented her ideas to the company.
“Shapiro owned a trade secret in a marketing opportunity, namely that a totally clear, animal-shaped doll line with a light-up feature had never been done in the $9.99-$10.99 price slot for girls,” her lawsuit claims.
Hasbro used the information it took from her to “release, improve or develop the Rainbow Shimmer, Water Cuties, and Sparkle Bright lines,” her new complaint states.
The new lawsuit seeks an injunction blocking sales of the toys, disgorgement of profits, a minimum of $75,000 in damages, double damages under California’s statute and punitive damages.
My Little Pony, not Yours, Doll Designer Says [Courthouse News]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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