ABSTRACT
The Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Jack Daniel’s v VIP Products was widely perceived to be a win for trademark owners and a loss for parodists, but recent cases cast some doubt on this assessment. Although the decision did significantly limit defendants’ ability to escape the likelihood of confusion inquiry through the First Amendment Rogers defense for expressive trademark uses, it also encouraged courts to more fully consider any parodic aspects of the defendant’s use within the likelihood of confusion analysis itself. Some courts have been taking heed of this suggestion, hesitating to find likelihood of confusion where the allegedly infringing work has an arguably parodic character.
Michaels, Andrew C, Parody Defendants are Finding Success Post-Jack Daniel’s (October 23, 2025), Law360.
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