Bad Spaniel’s: Barking the Line Between Permitted Parody and Trademark Infringement

Next month the Supreme Court will hear argument in Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, a case examining the First Amendment right to humorous expression in a commercial setting.

VIP Products LLC is a company that manufactures dog toys. VIP created and sells a plastic chew toy that resembles Jack Daniel’s iconic whisky bottle. Instead of “Jack Daniel’s,” the toy’s mock label says “Bad Spaniel’s” and in place of the “Old No. 7” and “Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey” descriptors it says “The Old No. 2 on your Tennessee Carpet.”