Jack Daniels has a trademark beef in front of the Supreme Court.
Phoenix-based VIP Products markets dozens of novelty pet products, including the 18-inch “Bad Spaniels” vinyl toy shaped like a liquor bottle, advertised on its website as “Silly and Fun For Everyone!”
Jack Daniels summarized its beef:
Jack Daniel’s loves dogs and appreciates a good joke as much as anyone. But Jack Daniel’s likes its customers even more, and doesn’t want them confused or associating its fine whiskey with dog poop[.]
This is what a Jack Daniels whiskey bottle looks like:
This is what VIP’s Bad Spaniel chew toy looks like:
Jack Daniels thinks that toy, a dog’s plastic chew toy, looks too much like its own liquor bottles and that its customers would be confused.
It’s interesting and amusing—and maybe insulting its customers—that Jack Daniels thinks its customers would be so easily confused between a liquor bottle and a dog’s chew toy.