Mattel Skip-Bo. Mattel purchased Fisher-Price, Inc. in 1993, Tyco Toys, Inc. (owners of the Matchbox and Dinky Toys brands) in 1997, and Pleasant Company (maker of the American Girl brand) in 1998. Mattel purchased The Learning Company in 1999 for $3.5 billion, but sold it in 2000 at a loss. The company had a $430.9 million net loss that year. Mattel earned the first grant for Disney Princess doll licenses in 2000. In December 2000, Mattel sued the band Aqua, saying their song "Barbie Girl" violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a
Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc. exceptions, such as "manifest disregard for the law." Previously, the Eighth Circuit had recognized "manifest disregard" as a grounds to vacate an arbitration award, defining manifest disregard as when "the arbitrators were fully aware of the existence of a clearly defined governing legal principle, but refused to apply it, in effect, ignoring it." However, after the Supreme Court passed its ruling in "Hall Street", the Eighth Circuit held that even manifest disregard is not a sufficient grounds to vacate an arbitration award. Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc. Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc., 552 U.S. 576 (2008),