The French court – the Versailles Court of Appeal – ruled that the use of slogans referencing Hermès and Birkin on handbags may infringe trademark rights, even if the message was intended to be humorous. 🇫🇷🏛️ The case concerned handbags bearing slogans such as ‘My Hermès is at home’ and ‘While waiting for My Birkin’. 👜💬
Humour is great marketing tool, but using it on commercial goods is incredibly risky. Many creators assume that wrapping a famous logo in a „joke” automatically protects them as a parody. But trademark law has a very strict definition of what legally qualifies as a defense.
When a traditional store imports inventory, they face strict legal responsibilities to certify that every item is safe, chemical-free, and compliant with local laws. But the rise of direct-to-consumer e-commerce has exposed a massive regulatory gap.
The Jack Daniel’s v Bad Spaniels case shows that a successful parody is not always entirely legally safe.
In this case, the parties were Jack Daniel’s, with its trademarks and the distinctive design of its Tennessee Whiskey bottle – featuring a square shape, a ribbed neck, a black-and-white label, a decorative border and arched lettering – and VIP Products, with its rubber dog toy ‘Bad Spaniels Silly Squeaker’. On the toy, the name ‘Jack Daniel’s’ was replaced with ‘Bad Spaniels’, ‘Old No. 7’ was changed to ‘Old No. 2’, and ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ to ‘Tennessee Carpet’. The label also featured jokes relating to dog poo, including ‘43% POO BY VOL.’ and ‘100% SMELLY’.
We have received, directly from Swim Shady Pty Ltd, the latest decision from the Australian Trade Marks Office regarding the SHADY and SHADY LIMITED trade marks, owned by Marshall B. Mathers III.
