TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Sunday, Dec 08, 2024

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.
Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×