Jack Daniel's V. Bad Spaniels: U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Trademark Case


 

Image above courtesy of Whiskey Raiders.


When is a brand parody not legal?

The U.S. Supreme Court will make that determination in a case involving Jack Daniel’s whiskey and a squeaky dog toy branded Bad Spaniels.

In addition to mimicking the shape of the Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 bottle and the label’s reference to the whiskey’s Tennessee origin, the front of the Bad Spaniels toy reads “The Old No. 2 on your Tennessee carpet.”

Last Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Lanham Act case brought by Jack Daniel’s against Arizona-based VIP Products that the court rejected last year. Jack Daniel’s subsequently sought a new petition.

At issue is the relationship between trademark and free-speech rights.

It will hinge largely on a 1989 case titled Rogers v. Grimaldi, which determined that unauthorized trademarks can be used as long as they don’t mislead consumers.

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Among other arguments, VIP Products believes that although the Bad Spaniels toy resembles the Jack Daniel’s trade dress and bottle design, there are significant differences—most notably the image of a dog and the wording on the Bad Spaniels label.

The wording replaces the Jack Daniel’s notations of 40% ABV with “43% Poo by Vol.” and “100% Smelly.”

Rogers v. Grimaldi involved a lawsuit by actress, dancer and singer Ginger Rogers over the 1986 film “Ginger and Fred,” which depicted two dancers emulating the dance routine of Rogers and Fred Astaire.

A court ruled that the Lanham Act does not bar “a minimally relevant use of a celebrity's name in the title of an artistic work where the title does not explicitly denote authorship, sponsorship, or endorsement by the celebrity or explicitly mislead as to content.”

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