Hermes wins permanent ban on ‘MetaBirkin’ NFT sales

Luxury brand Hermes‘ request to permanently block artist Mason Rothschild‘s sales of “MetaBirkin” non-fungible tokens has been accepted by a court in the US. A jury’s verdict declared that the NFT violated the French luxury house’s trademark rights in its Birkin handbags. For those unaware, NFTs are unique tokens on blockchain networks that are often used to verify ownership of digital art.

According to a report in news agency Reuters, US District Judge Jed Rakoff said the permanent injunction was justified because Rothschild‘s continued marketing of the NFTs would likely confuse consumers and cause irreparably harm to the company. The judge also denied Rothschild’s requests to throw out the verdict or hold a new trial.

NFTs aimed to “defraud” customers
In its ruling, the judge said, “Defendant’s entire scheme here was to defraud consumers into believing, by his use of variations on Hermes’ trademarks, that Hermes was endorsing his lucrative MetaBirkins NFTs.” “Nothing in the First Amendment insulates him from liability for such a scheme.”

Hermes’ charges
Hermes sued Rothschild in 2022 over his MetaBirkins, 100 NFTs associated with images depicting the luxury house’s prized Birkin handbags covered in colorful fur. The company called Rothschild a “digital speculator” and the NFTs a “get rich quick” scheme that infringed its “Birkin” trademark and created the false impression that the fashion house endorsed the tokens.

Rothschild on its part countered Hermes’ claims said that that the works were an absurdist statement on luxury goods and immune from the lawsuit. It sought protections based on the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution for art that uses trademarks in an artistically relevant way without explicitly misleading consumers.

Incidentally a jury ruled for Hermes in February and awarded the company $133,000 in damages. However, Rothschild reportedly continued to market his NFTs after the jury’s verdict. It asked the court to force him to stop and to turn over his remaining tokens and post-trial profits.

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Luxury brand Hermes‘ request to permanently block artist Mason Rothschild‘s sales of “MetaBirkin” non-fungible tokens has been accepted by a court in the US. A jury’s verdict declared that the NFT violated the French luxury house’s trademark rights in its Birkin handbags. For those unaware, NFTs are unique tokens on blockchain networks that are often used to verify ownership of digital art.

According to a report in news agency Reuters, US District Judge Jed Rakoff said the permanent injunction was justified because Rothschild‘s continued marketing of the NFTs would likely confuse consumers and cause irreparably harm to the company. The judge also denied Rothschild’s requests to throw out the verdict or hold a new trial.

NFTs aimed to “defraud” customers
In its ruling, the judge said, “Defendant’s entire scheme here was to defraud consumers into believing, by his use of variations on Hermes’ trademarks, that Hermes was endorsing his lucrative MetaBirkins NFTs.” “Nothing in the First Amendment insulates him from liability for such a scheme.”

Hermes’ charges
Hermes sued Rothschild in 2022 over his MetaBirkins, 100 NFTs associated with images depicting the luxury house’s prized Birkin handbags covered in colorful fur. The company called Rothschild a “digital speculator” and the NFTs a “get rich quick” scheme that infringed its “Birkin” trademark and created the false impression that the fashion house endorsed the tokens.

Rothschild on its part countered Hermes’ claims said that that the works were an absurdist statement on luxury goods and immune from the lawsuit. It sought protections based on the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution for art that uses trademarks in an artistically relevant way without explicitly misleading consumers.

Incidentally a jury ruled for Hermes in February and awarded the company $133,000 in damages. However, Rothschild reportedly continued to market his NFTs after the jury’s verdict. It asked the court to force him to stop and to turn over his remaining tokens and post-trial profits.

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end of article