Bermuda Post

Wednesday, Jun 07, 2023

Supreme Court to hear trademark dispute case over Jack Daniel's whiskey and poop-themed dog toy

Supreme Court to hear trademark dispute case over Jack Daniel's whiskey and poop-themed dog toy

The whiskey maker says the toy infringes on its trademark by mimicking its bottle design. An appeals court said it's protected by the First Amendment.
A trademark case set to be argued before the Supreme Court this week centers around a dog toy modeled after a Jack Daniel's bottle that the whiskey company claims is harmful to its brand by associating its label and design with dog poop.

The company is seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that determined the "Bad Spaniels" toy from VIP Products is protected by the First Amendment and intended as a joke not meant to harm Jack Daniel's.

The toy trades in Jack Daniel's iconic "Old No. 7 Brand Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey" label for a dog-themed design that advertises "The Old No. 2 On Your Tennessee Carpet" from the "Bad Spaniels" brand. While Jack Daniel's bottles say the whiskey is 40% alcohol by volume, the toy bottle states that it is "43% poo by vol." and "100% smelly".

"To be sure, everyone likes a good joke," lawyers for Jack Daniel's wrote in a court filing. "But VIP's profit-motivated 'joke' confuses consumers by taking advantage of Jack Daniel's hard-earned goodwill."

Jack Daniel's and other companies like Nike and Campbell Soup filed briefs in support of the whiskey maker, arguing that allowing the product to stand as artistic expression will leave them vulnerable to other parodies that could harm their brands.

VIP's lawyers have argued that ruling in favor of Jack Daniel's will create precedent that would make it easier for trademark holders to limit the protected free speech of others, according to Reuters.

In court filings, Jack Daniel's lawyers say a district court ruled that the toy violated the Lanham Act, a law that protects trademark holders if another product is believed to cause confusion among consumers about its origin and whether it's associated with the known trademark.

But on appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the clearly humorous product was protected by the First Amendment.

For works of artistic expression, it must be proven that use of the trademark is irrelevant to the work, and that the creator is intentionally misleading consumers into believing the trademark holder is involved. Since that could not be proven in the case of the dog toy, the Ninth Circuit court ruled that it was protected by the First Amendment.

"The Bad Spaniels dog toy, although surely not the equivalent of the Mona Lisa, is an expressive work," Judge Andrew Hurwitz wrote in the ruling.

Arguments on the case are set to be heard by the Supreme Court Wednesday, and a decision is expected later this year.

Jack Daniel's did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
Close
0:00
0:00
Corporations standing up for “LGDP-LGT-LBG-LGBTQ2+ kids” during ‘Pride Month’ be like:
A Major Ukrainian Hydroelectric Dam BLOWN UP
US and European Intelligence Agencies Uncover Evidence of Ukrainian Role in Terror Attack on Nord Stream Pipeline
The driver has been described by authorities as a 21-year-old woman from Tallahassee
Joe Biden falls at the Air Force Graduation
America's Got Talent…
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
If you donated to BLM, you got played
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
Actor Tom Hanks told Harvard University graduates to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
WATCH THIS: democracy in Russia is so bad!
Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Steve Jobs introducing Apple's iPhone, exactly 16 years ago.
China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter
Last Walmart in North Portland Closing Down
Banking Behemoth vs Ex-Boss: The PMorgan-Epstein Entanglement
Florida's DeSantis seeks to disqualify judge in Disney case
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines calls the British monarchy "an absurdity" he wants to remove in his lifetime
Remarkable video from our Fox drone team
The official tapes of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll battery (rape) and defamation case have been released.
Here is the full video that the media are purposely not sharing
King Charles III being crowned.
New York procedures cover up cold blooded first degree murder of black man by white man
Newly released video of Donald Trump’s rape trial deposition:
×