- Metaverse investing and NFTs are at risk because of their speculative components.
- Beginning in January 2022, Hermès sued Rothschild.
- The court’s decision sets an important precedent for NFT artists and lays the groundwork for using intellectual property (IP) law for digital creativity.
The non-fungible token (NFT) artist Hermès sued Mason Rothschild for copyright infringement, and a jury of nine people found in Hermès’ favor, paying $133,000 in damages. Additionally, the jury figured that the First Amendment of the US Constitution did not save NFTs.
Hermès and Rothschild possessed witnesses with knowledge of trademark law and NFTs to testify, and the Rogers v. Grimaldi criterion was applied to weigh creative indications against trademark infringement. In closing arguments, Oren Warshavsky, the attorney for Hermès, said that Rothschild’s MetaBirkin NFTs deceived buyers and sabotaged the Hermès brand.
A suit was filed against Rothschild by Hermès in January 2022 after Rothschild designed an NFT collection called MetaBirkins based on Hermès’ famous Birkin handbag. Upon filing, Hermès claimed Rothschild was attempting to “steal Hermès’ famous intellectual property” to sell his brand of products, which could confuse its customers.
The managing partner of Leichtman Law, David Leichtman, shared on Tuesday that the case was not specifically about Mason Rothschild’s use of the Birkin brand. His goal was to trick consumers into believing the MetaBirkin NFTs were associated with Hermès.
Taking the case to court establishes an enormous precedent for NFT artists and sets the basis for IP law when applied to digital inventions. According to the managing partner of Leichtman Law, David Leichtman, the dispute centers on whether Rothschild meant to deceive customers into thinking the MetaBirkin NFTs were connected to Hermès’ signature item.
