It’s a big day for legal precedent in Web3, as a lawsuit between luxury brand Hermès International SA, and Mason Rothschild, the artist behind the controversial MetaBirkin NFT project, has been settled. After six days of proceedings in a Manhattan courtroom, the ruling came back that Rothschild’s sale of handbag-inspired NFTs violated Hermès’ rights to the “Birkin” trademark.
A nine-person jury issued a verdict on Wednesday, February 8, awarding Hermès $133,000 in total damages and finding that Rothschild’s NFTs aren’t protected speech under the First Amendment. With regulation surrounding crypto and NFTs still vastly unestablished, this case will likely set the tone for future proceedings to be considered matters of intellectual property law.
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On January 14, 2022, Hermès International sued Rothschild for trademark infringement following the release of MetaBirkins— a collection of 100 NFT purses covered in faux fur which bore a striking resemblance (in name and image) to the French fashion house’s well-known Birkin bags. After less than a month of proceedings, the trial has made a major statement regarding how NFTs exist at the intersection of intellectual property law and constitutional law.
In its original 47-page complaint, Hermès argued that Rothschild’s MetaBirkins NFTs infringe upon the luxury brand’s Birkin trademark, believing that Rothschild’s NFT collection is “likely to cause consumer confusion and mistake in the minds of the public.” The jury determined that Rothschild had indeed infringed upon the Hermès trademark and that NFTs should be seen akin to consumer products and subject to trademark laws that often help protect influential clothing brands from copycats and the sale of knockoff goods.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
Source: NFT Now
