Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of economics and cryptography.
French Luxury Brand Hermes Wins NFT Trademark Infringement Lawsuit – Featured Bitcoin News
French luxury brand Hermes has won a lawsuit against an artist who depicted its famous Birkin bags in a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The artist argued that NFTs should be covered under the US Constitution’s First Amendment, but the jury disagreed.
Hermes wins lawsuit against ‘Metabirkins’ NFT Creator
French luxury design house Hermes has won a lawsuit against Mason Rothschild, the artist behind the “Metabirkins” collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) containing digital depictions of Hermes’ popular Birkin bags.
Rothschild created the Metabirkins NFT collection in 2021, which he described as “a collection of 100 unique NFTs made with faux fur in a range of contemporary colors and graphic finishes.” The collection has achieved more than 200 ETH in sales, equivalent to $331,684 at the time of writing. Hermes complained and sued the artist early last year for trademark infringement.
Rothschild argued that NFTs should be covered under the US Constitution’s First Amendment. The artist’s defense team compared his work to Andy Warhol who depicted Campbell’s soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles in his artwork. Rothschild argued in court:
These images, and the NFTs that authenticate them, are not handbags. They have nothing but meaning.
Hermes’ lawyers have accused Rothschild of “stealing the goodwill of Hermes’ famous intellectual property in order to create and sell its own product line.” They claimed that customers are likely to mistake Metabirkin’s NFTs for genuine Hermes products. They further said that Metabirkin’s URL is too similar to the one used by the luxury brand. Oren Warshavsky, a lawyer representing Hermes said in court: “The reason for these sales was the Birkin name.”
After deliberating for two days, a New York jury on Wednesday returned a verdict saying it “found the defendant liable for trademark infringement” and “trademark dilution.” Additionally, they found that “the First Amendment protections do not preclude liability.” The jury then awarded Hermes $133,000 in damages—$110,000 for trademark infringement and $23,000 for cybersquatting.
Do you think the NFT creator should have won this lawsuit? Let us know in the comments section below.
Image credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
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