Jack Daniel's wins trademark dispute over dog toy parody in Supreme Court ruling.
The US Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Jack Daniel's in a legal battle with Bad Spaniel, a dog toy maker that parodies the whiskey brand. The court said that the use of a trademark does not count as non-commercial just because it parodies another's products. Jack Daniel's had tried to stop production and marketing of the dog chew toy, which features a spaniel and the name "Bad Spaniels" on the label instead of the iconic Jack Daniel's name. The company argued that the lower court was wrong to conclude that the toy was a "humorous" and "expressive" work and thus immune from claims that it infringed on Jack Daniel's trademark.