LA Copyright Society

Upcoming Event:

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. PT

via Zoom

Jack Daniel's One Year Later

What the Lower Courts Are Getting Right (And Wrong)

One year removed from the Supreme Court’s “narrow” decision in Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, the question of what the Rogers v. Grimaldi doctrine looks like now is still very much an open one. Courts, litigants, and media companies are all struggling to figure out exactly what conduct is shielded from the familiar “likelihood of confusion” standard by the First Amendment. From teddy bears to television shows, the concept of a source-identifying trademark use is leaving many of us scratching our heads for more answers.

Trademark attorney Lynn Jordan and Law Professor Stacey Dogan have spent years studying and writing about the Rogers doctrine and have closely watched its ups-and-downs in the last year. On September 17, they will come together to look at the cases that have been decided in the wake of Jack Daniel’s and share their thoughts and insights on where the law is going, what they see as the biggest unresolved questions, and how litigants and media companies can work to navigate these uncertainties.

Professor Stacey Dogan is Professor and The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law, Boston University School of Law. She is a leading scholar in intellectual property, competition, and technology law. Her work has been cited many times by federal courts, including a recent citation by the U.S. Supreme Court in Jack Daniel’s v. VIP Products, 599 U.S. __ (2023) (quoting S. Dogan & M. Lemley, Grounding Trademark Law Through Trademark Use, 92 Iowa L. Rev. 1669, 1683 (2007)). At BU, she has played a central role in developing clinics, coursework, and interdisciplinary research partnerships in the area of law and technology. Before joining the BU faculty, Professor Dogan taught for more than a decade at Northeastern University School of Law, practiced law at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, and Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe in San Francisco, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judith Rogers of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Lynn Jordan is a founding partner of Kelly IP, a trademark/copyright law firm in Washington, DC. Lynn is recognized for her expertise in handling trademark matters for major entertainment, news, and media companies, particularly regarding the interplay between trademark law and the First Amendment. She is the author of three comprehensive articles on Rogers v. Grimaldi published in the Trademark Reporter, and recently penned an amicus brief on behalf of the Motion Picture Association in support of the First Amendment rights of its members. Prior to founding Kelly IP in 2013, she practiced at Finnegan Henderson for many years.

The panel will be moderated by Josh Geller, a partner at Greenberg Glusker, LLP. His practice focuses primarily on entertainment, intellectual property, and complex commercial litigation. He has experience defending trademark claims involving the Rogers v. Grimaldi doctrine, including an ongoing dispute for a major studio.