Supreme Court favors Jack Daniel's in dispute over poop-themed dog toy

WASHINGTON (TND) — The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with Jack Daniel's in a trademark case, saying a lower court's reasoning was flawed when it ruled for the makers of a rubber chew toy.

The poop-themed "Bad Spaniels" squeaky toy, which was created by VIP Products, was designed to look like a bottle of Jack Daniel's.

While "Old No. 7 Brand Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey" appears on the whiskey bottle, the toy company parodied the phrase with the words, "The Old No. 2 On Your Tennessee Carpet."

In a 27-page decision on Thursday,Justice Elena Kagan wrote that "these jokes did not impress petitioner Jack Daniel's Proprieties, which owns trademarks in the distinctive Jack Daniels' bottle and in many of the words and graphics on its label."

The court did not decide whether the toy's maker had violated trademark law but instead sent the case back for further review.

Jack Daniel's previously demanded that VIP stop selling the toy, but VIP claimed the "neither infringed nor diluted Jack Daniel's trademarks," according to Kegan.

But the Supreme Court did not agree and sided with the whiskey company.

We hold only that is is not appropriate when the accuses infringer has used a trademark to designate the source of its own goods -- in other words, has used a trademark as a trademark," Kegan wrote. "That kind of use falls within the heartland of trademark law, and does not receive special First Amendment protection. The dilution issue is more simply addressed. The use of a mark does not count as noncommercial just because it parodies, or otherwise comments on, another's product."

Arizona-based VIP Products has been selling its Bad Spaniels toy since 2014. It’s part of the company's Silly Squeakers line of chew toys that mimic liquor, beer, wine and soda bottles. They include Mountain Drool, which parodies Mountain Dew, and Heini Sniff’n, which parodies Heineken beer.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.