Awards

• Winner of Thorsnes Prize 2018

Overview

The battle between Mattel, the makers of the iconic Barbie doll, and MGA, the company that created the Bratz dolls, was not just a war over best-selling toys, but a war over who owns ideas. When Carter Bryant began designing what would become the billion-dollar line of Bratz dolls, he was taking time off from his job at Mattel, where he designed outfits for Barbie. Later, back at Mattel, he sold his concept for Bratz to rival company MGA. Law professor Orly Lobel reveals the colorful story behind the ensuing decade-long court battle. This entertaining and provocative work pits audacious MGA against behemoth Mattel, shows how an idea turns into a product, and explores the two different versions of womanhood, represented by traditional all-American Barbie and her defiant, anti-establishment rival—the only doll to come close to outselling her. In an era when workers may be asked to sign contracts granting their employers the rights to and income resulting from their ideas—whether conceived during work hours or on their own time—Lobel's deeply researched story is a riveting and thought-provoking contribution to the contentious debate over creativity and intellectual property.

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9780393254075

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Reviews

Colorful and dramatic. . . . Orly Lobel masterfully draws us in with rich details, urging us to consider the future of innovation and the many ways in which companies employ litigation to achieve market domination. -- Jonathan Zittrain, George Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government A thrill ride through backstabbing competition, business strategies, and the marketing of the American icon Barbie. Who knew intellectual property law could be such a page turner? An amazing story and a great read. -- Jonah Berger, Wharton Professor and bestselling author of Contagious Lobel's gripping You Don't Own Me has all the ingredients of a great story: an upstart hero, an underdog that takes on a powerful top dog, and a string of unpredictable twists and turns that reveal how corporations and the courts determine who owns creative ideas. This is an important and insightful book that's sure to inspire a heated debate. -- Adam Alter, author of Irresistible Orly Lobel has written a fascinating, insightful, and accessible book with relevance for entrepreneurship and business in general, for copyright law and the legal profession as a whole, for individual success and the success of our economy. It is both pleasure reading and mandatory reading. -- Tal Ben-Shahar, author of Happier

Orly Lobel has written a fascinating, insightful, and accessible book with relevance for entrepreneurship and business in general, for copyright law and the legal profession as a whole, for individual success and the success of our economy. It is both pleasure reading and mandatory reading. -- Tal Ben-Shahar, author of Happier

Author Information

Orly Lobel is the Don Weckstein Professor of Law at the University of San Diego and received her doctoral and law degrees from Harvard University. When a child, she starred in her psychologist mother’s studies on playing with Barbies. The award-winning author of Talent Wants to Be Free, she lives in La Jolla, California.

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