Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. v. Penguin Books USA, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
109 F.3d 1394 (1997)
Penguin Books (defendant) published "The Cat NOT in the Hat! A Parody by Dr. Juice," a satire of the O.J. Simpson murder trial styled after Dr. Seuss's "The Cat in the Hat," including cover art depicting a stovepipe hat closely resembling the trademarked Cat character's hat. Dr. Seuss Enterprises (plaintiff), which held trademarks in the "Dr. Seuss" name, the "Cat in the Hat" title, and the Cat's image, sued for trademark infringement; the district court found several of the likelihood-of-confusion factors indeterminate at that early stage but granted a preliminary injunction on other grounds. Penguin appealed, arguing its book deserved protection as a parody regardless of any likelihood of confusion.
Whether a claim that a work is a parody functions as a separate defense to trademark infringement, apart from the ordinary claim that consumers are unlikely to be confused about the work's source.