Poop-themed dog toy maker loses to Jack Daniel's in Supreme Court trademark dispute

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Jack Daniel's and against a company that makes a dog toy shaped like the distiller’s whiskey bottle in an unusual trademark dispute that drew the interest of some of the nation’s best-known brands.

Jack Daniel's Properties argued that the toy, which looks like a bottle of its whiskey but carries the words "Bad Spaniels" on the label, could confuse consumers about who made the product and could tarnish the company's reputation. The dog toy company, Arizona-based VIP Products, said the toy is a parody, entitled to free speech protection.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court rejected a ruling from a federal appeals court that had backed the dog toy maker and sent the case back to a lower court for additional review.

"This case is about dog toys and whiskey, two items seldom appearing in the same sentence," Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the opening line of the opinion.

Part of the comedic element of the toy are its dog excrement jokes. Instead of including the "Old No. 7" emblazoned on the highly recognizable label of a Jack Daniel's bottle, the toy references "the Old No. 2 on your Tennessee carpet."

Jokes aside, the litigation raised compelling questions about a company’s ability to protect a brand against humorous knockoffs. That explains why some well-known brands, including Campbell Soup Co. and Levi Strauss & Co., publicly backed Jack Daniel's.

The California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided with toy maker, ruling that – because the product is a parody – it enjoys special protection from trademark claims.

The Supreme Court rejected that reading on Thursday. Copying a trademark, the court said, doesn't automatically get a free pass from lawsuits just because it parodies or comments on the original product.

“While this case focused on silly dog toys, the issue of trademark infringement is very serious and this unanimous ruling is a big win for brand owners working hard to responsibly market their products,” said Courtney Armour, the chief legal officer of the Distilled Spirits Council.

VIP Products didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Poop-themed dog toy maker loses to Jack Daniel's at Supreme Court