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| (AP Photo/Jessica Gresko) |
Jack Daniel's says YES.
"VIP" (manufacturer of the Bad Spaniels toy) says NO.
The ninth Circuit Court of Appeals says NO.
Now the U.S. Supreme Court will review the trademark dispute with a hope that it will provide clarity of what is and is not trademark infringement under U.S. federal trademark law when one endeavors to incorporate elements in its product that reassemble another's trademark.
The specific legal issues and legal procedure at the heart of this trademark dispute that the U.S. Supreme Court will likely address are surely interesting to trademark attorneys, legal scholars, law professors, and law students to name a few.
But, since OP-IP is directed to the general business community and not what my Constitutional Law professor referred to as the "egg heads," a more interesting topic for consideration here is whether the arguable parody of the Jack Daniel's bottle (marks) (Bad Spaniel's toy) should be permissible or whether the Bad Spaniel's toy should be considered a trademark infringement.
The talking heads on both sides of the debate have weighed in for and against trademark infringement.
What do you say....
Continue on to the full OP-IP Law Blog
© Stephen J. Weyer 2022
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