Thomashower Comments On SCOTUS Jack Daniel's Decision And NYIPLA Amicus Brief

Pryor Cashman Counsel William Thomashower, a member of the Intellectual Property Group, serves on the New York Intellectual Property Law Association's Amicus Brief Committee, which filed an amicus curiae brief in January 2023 to the U.S. Supreme Court in an important trademark case, Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC.

On June 8, 2023, the Court decided the case (read Pryor Cashman's Client Alert and the opinion here), and NYIPLA posted comments on LinkedIn on June 13. The case focused on a trademark infringement and trademark dilution claim by Jack Daniel's against VIP Products, which had created a parody dog chew toy product called "Bad Spaniels" that used wording and trade dress similar to the Jack Daniel's Black Label whiskey bottle. Jack Daniel's challenged this as likely causing confusion and, although an attempt at humor, tarnishing its brand. Reversing a dismissal by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had found the parody "humorous