Comment by ndriscoll
The latest I can find on Bad Spaniels is that the courts concluded they did not infringe the trademark exactly because it was an obvious parody, but that it tarnished the brand because of the association with dog feces[0]. Notably, it seems that brand confusion is still central to the infringement question, and SCOTUS ruled that parody plays into that.
> Reaching the Supreme Court, the case took another turn in 2023 when the Court vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision, unanimously ruling that the Rogers test does not apply in cases when a trademark is used as a source identifier, rather than as a purely artistic work. As a result, the Supreme Court remanded the case for the district court to reconsider Jack Daniel’s counterclaims under traditional trademark principles.
In the food truck case, clearly they are using it as their own brand identifier (so it's analogous to Bad Spaniels), and clearly it is a parody, so clearly it is not trademark infringement as with BS. Unlike the BS case, they're also not tarnishing the Eggo brand, but just making a playful pun, so that outcome doesn't seem likely here.
[0] https://www.internetandtechnologylaw.com/bad-spaniels-iii-pa...
You misinterpreted the outcome of that case. The ninth circuit ruling was in favor of VIP. The Supreme Court overturned that ruling and said the lower court needed to discard the rogers test as exculpatory for VIP/BS.
I’ll use a direct quote from your own source to explain how the actual ruling ended up losing the case for BS:
…the district court found that it nevertheless dilutes the fame and distinctiveness of the whiskey maker’s reputation, thereby still running afoul of the Lanham Act’s anti-dilution provisions. The amended order follows the Supreme Court’s decision ending the application of the more liberal Rogers First Amendment test in trademark cases involving expressive works used as source identifiers. In doing so, while finding that the parody of the “Bad Spaniels” dog toy decreased the likelihood of confusion with Jack Daniel’s by modifying the analysis of certain factors in a light more favorable to VIP, the district court ultimately found VIP’s parody of the famous whiskey brand to be a double-edged sword that contributed to finding dilution by tarnishment. /quote
The Supreme Court case said that because they were using a trademark as a brand identifier they couldn’t argue for a rogers test exemption. In other words if you use someone else’s trademark, even as a riff or joke, in your trademark, the bar is much higher. L’Eggo my Eggroll is doing exactly that.
Your argument that “In the food truck case, clearly they are using it as their own brand identifier (so it's analogous to Bad Spaniels)” perfectly encapsulates why this is a violation once you grok the outcome of the court case. Bravo for phrasing it so succinctly.