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From the purple streak in her hair to the holographic shoes she wears, a Chicago astronomer says doll-maker American Girl stole her likeness and adapted her name to create a popular astronaut doll.
Lucianne M. Walkowicz, a TED senior fellow at the Adler Planetarium who has spent much of her career with NASA’s Kepler mission, is asking in a lawsuit filed late Wednesday that Middleton, Wisconsin-based American Girl and its parent company, Mattel, stop selling the Luciana Vega doll, which first appeared in 2018. The doll is described on American Girl’s website as “an aspiring astronaut ready to take the next giant leap to Mars.”
According to the trademark lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin, Walkowicz has lectured extensively on Mars exploration and done “considerable research” with the Kepler mission on the constellation Lyra, which contains Vega as its brightest star. Walkowicz has often discussed Vega, the lawsuit states. Using the Kepler space telescope, the mission explored the galaxy outside the Earth’s solar system searching for planets potentially capable of supporting life. It ended in 2018.
Among the places where Walkowicz has lectured was the Monona Terrace convention center, where she spoke in 2014 about the Kepler mission. Her 2015 TED Talk called “Let’s Not Use Mars as a Backup Planet,” on the ethics of Mars exploration, has been viewed at least 2.2 million times on the TED website, the lawsuit states.
American Girl said in a statement that it “takes great pride in creating original characters for girls. We take any allegations to the contrary extremely seriously, and intend to defend the case vigorously.”
During her career, the lawsuit states, Walkowicz has taken on a distinctive appearance, including a purple streak on the right side of her dark hair, and holographic shoes. The doll’s dark hair also has a purple streak on the right side, and holographic shoes.
“Here, the defendants used the name and likeness of Lucianne, a well-known figure in astronomy, space and STEM, who particularly studied the star Vega, in conjunction with the American Girl doll Luciana Vega without obtaining her authorization,” the lawsuit states. “In fact, the defendants incorporated the same color hair streak, shoes and style of Lucianne in the Luciana Vega doll.”
The lawsuit claims that Rebecca DeKuiper, who was a lead designer of American Girl’s “Girl of the Year” brand, attended Walkowicz’s Monona Terrace appearance with other American Girl employees. In 2016, American Girl signed a deal with NASA for the space agency to consult on the accuracy of American Girl’s dolls. One of those NASA consultants attended a conference that year in Pittsburgh where Walkowicz spoke, the lawsuit states.
American Girl filed for a “Luciana” trademark in November 2016, which was granted the following year.
When the Luciana Vega doll premiered, ads for it included a quote from Ellen Stofan, a NASA consultant who attended the Pittsburgh conference where Walkowicz spoke, the lawsuit states. Accessories sold with Luciana Vega include a telescope projector set and a “Mars Habitat.”
In addition to a cease-and-desist order barring sales of the Luciana Vega doll and accessories, the lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory, punitive and other damages. It also seeks the cancellation of American Girl’s Luciana and Luciana Vega trademarks.
Walkowicz’s attorney, Charles Mudd Jr., said there had been prior discussions with Mattel about the matter, but that the “filing of the litigation should be indicative” of how those went.
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The Associated Press contributed.
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