Distant relatives of late Mexican artist Frida Kahlo have won a temporary injunction that stops sales of a Frida Barbie doll.

Kahlo's great-niece, Mara de Anda Romeo, argued in a Mexican court that Mattel does not have the rights to use Kahlo's image as part of its Inspiring Women series.

According to a copy of a ruling posted last Thursday, the toymaker and department stores in Mexico must stop commercialising the doll until the issue is resolved. Mattel has said it worked with the Panama-based Frida Kahlo Corp which it claims has rights to the artist's image.

Critics say the doll does not reflect Kahlo's heavy, nearly conjoined eyebrows, and its costume does not accurately portray her elaborate Tehuana-style dresses.