Breaking News: Supreme Court Denies Petition for Certiorari in RAPUNZEL Consumer Standing Case.

TRADEMARK'S PARODY PROBLEM 48 Pages Posted: Christine Haight Farley American University - Washington College of Law Date Written: February 15, 2026 Abstract This Article challenges the Supreme Court's recent assurance that trademark parody is adequately protected under ordinary infringement doctrine without the need for special speech safeguards. In Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, the Court curtailed the principal First Amendment defense for expressive trademark uses while predicting that parodies would nonetheless prevail under the likelihood of confusion test. This Article shows why that prediction is mistaken. Drawing on recent case law and trademark doctrine, it identifies four structural vulnerabilities that now confront parody: the expansion of "trademark use" as a gatekeeping device that excludes parodists from speech-protective analysis; courts' reliance on consumer surveys that mistake legal beliefs about permission for actionable source confusion; the routine application of infringement factors that disregard expressive purpose; and judicial demands that parodies be "successful," obvious, or directly targeted to merit protection. Together, these developments systematically bias trademark law against subtle, critical, and uncomfortable forms of expression. The Article concludes that without doctrinal recalibration, trademark law risks becoming a regime of private censorship over cultural meaning and proposes concrete adjustments to preserve parody as a constitutionally protected form of speech. Keywords: Trademark Law, Parody, First Amendment, Likelihood of Confusion, Trademark Use, Jack Daniel’s Properties v. VIP Products, Rogers v. Grimaldi, Expressive Works, Approval Confusion, Lanham Act, Consumer Surveys, Trade Dress, Free Speech, Chilling Effects, Trademark Infringement

On my reading list: "Trademark's Parody Problem" by @christinefarley.bsky.social: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

If you are attending INTA this year, please join us for our Professor’s Panel discussion about INTA’s recent proposal to increase protection for well known marks: www.inta.org/wp-content/u...
Info about our panel is here: www.inta.org/meetings/202.... I look forward to seeing everyone at INTA!

Book Launch: Trademarks and Free Speech This event is supported by the UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL)

If you live in the United Kingdom or will be in London for the INTA annual meeting, join us for my May 7 book talk at University College London. I’m delighted UCL invited me to speak and look forward to introducing my friends from the US to my friends from the UK! www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

“Amendment), the Court reads Zeus to challenge only the infringement claims under the First Amendment at this stage. The Court therefore focuses only on the First Amendment implications of the infringement claims.”

This is what the court said: “Although there is the potential for conflict between dilution claims and the First Amendment, see Lisa P. Ramsey, Free Speech Challenges to Trademark Law After Matal v. Tam, 56 Hous. L. Rev. 401, 456–61 (2018) (arguing that dilution claims are precluded by the First…”

So I was delighted to discover that the SDNY court in the Viacom v Zeus case cited my “Free Speech Challenges to Trademark Law after Matal v Tam” paper in footnote 3! law.justia.com/cases/federa...

Ohio man becomes first person convicted under federal law criminalizing intimate deepfakes, DOJ says The Take It Down Act makes it a federal crime to publish nonconsensual deepfakes.

"Ohio man becomes first person convicted under federal law criminalizing intimate deepfakes, DOJ says - The Take It Down Act makes it a federal crime to publish nonconsensual deepfakes."
www.nbcnews.com/tech/securit...

Northeastern, St. Thomas Law lead 2026 best law schools for practical training Before stepping into a law school classroom, Maya Budhrani heard the warning: Law school is nothing like being a lawyer.As a first-generation law student, Budhrani relied heavily on outreach and self-...

Congratulations to USD law professor Linda Lane and the attorneys who teach in USD’s Experiential Advocacy Practicum for receiving an A+ grade and top 10 ranking from the National Jurist in its 2026 ranking of best law schools for practical training!
nationaljurist.com/northeastern...

Kudos and *thanks* to @edleeprof.edu and his team @SantaClaraLaw.edu on their new searchable gen AI case tracker. With 100 domestic, and many more international, cases pending it'll be a great tool for gen AI case nerds (and real people) everywhere:
chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/aicopyright...

Amazon's Bot Ban Aims To Stifle AI Rivals, 9th Circ. Told - Law360 Perplexity AI has urged the Ninth Circuit to scrap an injunction blocking the startup's artificial intelligence tool Comet from purchasing items on Amazon.com, arguing the lower court made numerous er...

Amazon's Bot Ban Aims To Stifle AI Rivals, 9th Circ. Told
www.law360.com/articles/246...

Lego Gets Win On Copyright, TM Claims In Suit Against Rival - Law360 A Connecticut federal judge Thursday found that Lego competitor Zuru infringed Lego's copyright and trademark rights for its Minifigure line, rejecting Zuru's arguments that the registrations were inv...

Lego Gets Win On Copyright, TM Claims In Suit Against Rival Zuru
www.law360.com/articles/246...

Netflix, Warner Bros. Get Pepperdine's 'Waves' TM Suit Tossed - Law360 A California federal judge has thrown out a suit brought by Pepperdine University accusing Netflix and Warner Bros. of infringing trademarks via a fictional basketball team in the TV show "Running Poi...

Netflix, Warner Bros. Get Pepperdine's 'Waves' TM Suit Tossed
www.law360.com/articles/246...

‘Thank You For Generating With Us!’ Hollywood's AI Acolytes Stay on the Hype Train Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy was one of the few skeptics at the Runway AI Summit, where AI was compared to fire and the printing press just a week after Sora’s death.

Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy was one of the few skeptics at the Runway AI Summit, where AI was compared to fire and the printing press just a week after Sora’s death.

Trademark Law: An Open-Access Casebook Barton Beebe, NYU School of Law

We will see what the court or a jury thinks if the parties do not settle!

For more information about reverse confusion law and other US trademark laws, I highly recommend Barton Beebe’s free open access trademark casebook: www.tmcasebook.org

Professor Lisa P. Ramsey - Trademarks and Free Speech book Table of Contents Introduction 1. Trademarks with Substantial Inherent Value 2. When Do Trademark and Free Speech Rights Conflict? 3. A Free Speech Framework for Trademark Law 4. Trademark Registratio...

Both marks are weak descriptive marks for the parties’ entertainment services, and the marks are not identical, so under the approach I recommend in my “Trademarks and Free Speech” book there should be no infringement here: www.lisapramsey.com/trademarks-a...

The court will likely evaluate the infringement claim under the standard multi-factor likelihood of confusion test, but the analysis of some of the factors may vary since this is a reverse confusion case involving a well-known junior user of a similar mark.

In litigation, the court will not be bound by this USPTO determination under Section 2(d), but it is not surprising the plaintiff noted this fact in her trademark complaint.

Also FYI in a Non-final Office action, the USPTO trademark examiner held that TAS’s proposed mark “The Life of a Showgirl” was likely to cause confusion with Plaintiff’s “Confessions of a Showgirl” mark for entertainment services. TAS’s application is now suspended.

TAS also cannot argue this is a descriptive fair use of the phrase because she claims trademark rights in it - that affirmative defense only applies to good faith use of a descriptive term otherwise than as a mark.

Non-trademark use of another’s mark is required for application of the Rogers test after the Supreme Court’s Jack Daniels decision. See papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

which typically applies in trademark disputes involving expressive works like songs, does not apply here since Taylor Swift’s company TAS applied to register “The Life of a Showgirl” as a mark for various goods & services, including entertainment services. See Serial No 99331566.

Taylor Swift’s IP Savvy Becomes a Liability in ‘Showgirl’ Suit Taylor Swift’s famously vigorous protection of her intellectual property has put her in an ironic position: Her bid to protect the title of her latest album hurts her ability to use a free-speech defe...

Highly recommend this article by Annelise Levy “Taylor Swift’s IP Savvy Becomes a Liability in ‘Showgirl’ Suit”. She correctly explains that the speech-protective Rogers test, …
news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/taylo...

TSDR record: "The mark consists of the color blue, which is the approximate equivalent of Pantone Process Blue C, as applied to the packaging and retail displays. The mark consists of the color blue alone. The broken lines indicate the position of the mark and do not form part of the mark. The broken lines are provided to show placement and are not claimed as part of the mark."

Looks like Deckers is trying to register a particular shade of blue for use in connection with footwear, clothing, and headwear: tsdr.uspto.gov#caseNumber=9...

I don’t have time to write one, but I would definitely be interested in commenting on and signing an amicus written by you or others!

Vogue Sues Dogue, Alleging a Copycat | Lisa Ramsey A few people (eg Edward Lee) have asked me what I think about this trademark dispute by Condé Nast (owner of Vogue magazine) against the seller of “Dogue” magazine featuring dogs. It is difficult to p...

For anyone interested in the speech-protective trademark doctrines that may - and may not - apply in the trademark lawsuit by Condé Nast (the owner of "Vogue" magazine) against the seller of "Dogue" magazine, I posted about the case here: www.linkedin.com/posts/lisapr...

Judge denies push to make DraftKings stop using 'March Madness' | Lisa Ramsey Here is a link to the district court's order in the NCAA/DraftKings lawsuit denying the NCAA's request for a temporary restraining order: https://lnkd.in/gXbF9xv3 The court declined to grant the TRO...

Here are my thoughts about the NCAA's trademark lawsuit against DraftKings:
www.linkedin.com/posts/lisapr...

Everyone Cheering The Social Media Addiction Verdicts Against Meta Should Understand What They’re Actually Cheering For First things first: Meta is a terrible company that has spent years making terrible decisions and being terrible at explaining the challenges of social media trust & safety, all while prioritiz…

This is an incredibly important piece by @masnick.com about the verdicts against Meta and I really hope you read it, because I think very few people understand the situation. Two things can be true...Meta and Zuckerberg are terrible, but so are these verdicts. www.techdirt.com/2026/03/26/e...

Supreme Court Draws a Hard Line on Contributory Infringement in Cox v. Sony Music The Supreme Court just killed fifty years of contributory liability precedent, rewriting the rules for secondary copyright liability.

The Supreme Court just rewrote the rules for contributory copyright infringement. What it all means for secondary liability, the DMCA safe harbor, and the pending AI output cases—up now on Copyright Lately:
copyrightlately.com/supreme-cour...

Sony v. Cox is out. Basically Thomas applying same methodology as Star Athletica but in secondary liability context to substantially cut back on judge-made doctrine: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...