METABIRKIN NFT CASE

Promising Verdict (First US court decision) Granted on MetaBirkin NFT Trademark Trial:

In the trademark lawsuit filed by Hermes against MetaBirkin NFT creator Mason Rothschild before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Manhattan federal jury in one of the first intellectual property trials involving non-fungible tokens returned a verdict in favor of the French fashion house Hermès in Manhattan federal court recently, finding that the artist who created “MetaBirkin” NFTs infringed Hermès’ trademark for its Birkin handbag. Respectively, MetaBirkin NFT creator Mason Rothschild was required to pay damages of $133,000 — a sum comprised of the estimated profits from his NFTs ($110,00) and for “cybersquatting” by registering MetaBirkins.com as a web domain ($23,000).

You may find summary of the decision via https://lnkd.in/dzX_NhZA

As you know, in brief, MetaBirkin NFT creator Mason Rothschild has claimed that exploitation of Hermes’ MetaBirkin bags as NFTs were merely an artistic expression protected under free speech whereas Hermes has counter-claimed that those NFTs was violating the trademarks it holds on Birkin bags and diluted the Birkin name.

Thanks to this decision it seems that exploiting famous brands as NFTs on goods and services that have not been registered by the brand owners in the physical sense will not be allowed as they are not protected under free speech exception; thus, third parties who intend to use digital versions of the goods as NFTs should think twice before minting someone else’s branded goods’ NFTs. Though it is highly likely that the case will be appealed, I foresee that it will not be reversed by the Higher Court.