WASHINGTON - Jack Daniels is suing the makers of a dog toy, accusing them of putting their paws all over their brand.
This ‘spirited’ case made it all the way to the Supreme Court - and now the dog toy company is over a barrel.“It can seem like sour grapes that Jack Daniels just can’t take a joke, but there’s a little more to it,” said trademark lawyer Michael Kondoudis“The defendant is essentially selling products that are mimicking their name. And the bottle shape, both of which are trademarks. And so that equals consumer confusion, which is a classic form of trademark infringement,” said Kondoudis.
But the defense argues the toy is an obvious parody - something that is usually protected by free speech.“When you move beyond just parody and you move on to commercialization, where you actually making a line of products and selling them for profit,” said Kondoudos. “The line gets blurry as to what is commentary and protected versus what is just ordinary commercial activity, which is subject to trademark protection.
A judge in that case, Paul Niemeyer wrote, “The dog toy irreverently presents haute couture as an object for casual canine destruction. The satire is unmistakable.”“It’s going to be harder for companies to protect their trademarks. And it’s going to excuse a little bit of consumer confusion,” said Kondoudis.Copyright 2023 Gray DC. All rights reserved.