Hermès seeks permanent injunction against NFT creator – ARTnews.com

Courtesy of the artist

Hermès recently won a legal battle against artist Mason Rothschild (aka Sonny Estival) over Rothschild’s NFT collection “MetaBirkins,” 3D renderings of the company’s iconic Birkin bag covered in fur in a variety of patterns. Since that ruling last month, Rothschild has continued to promote and sell MetaBirkin NFTs on social media, and now Hermès is seeking an injunction against him.

“Rothschild will continue to offend; he has shown that he cannot be trusted,” Hermès’ request for a permanent injunction says.

A permanent injunction is used to compel a person to do something or refrain from doing something. Violating an injunction means the individual will be held in contempt of court, often leading to jail time or fines, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.

To obtain an injunction against Rothschild, Hermés will have to prove that he has caused them irreparable harm, that other remedies (such as paying monetary damages) are not sufficient, that when balancing the “hardships” of both parties, the relief is just, and that public interests would not be done a disservice by this legal action.

In the injunction, Nicolas Martin, Hermès’ general counsel, quoted what he said during the trial: “If we are going to enter this new digital world, if we want to bring our most iconic handbag into this digital world, there will always be a reference to this MetaBirkin. And I think that being the first is the first thing, and we lost this opportunity to be the first to the market, which I think is really something that is very important for Hermès.”

Essentially, Hermès claims that Rothschild’s MetaBirkin project has diluted the brand and that if the project is allowed to continue, MetaBirkin will potentially confuse potential customers, especially as the brand claims that they had prepared to make NFTs using their Birkin designs.

Hermès is lobbying for Rothschild to stop using the Birkin trademark; causing him to transfer domains and social media using the word Birkin to Hermès, along with any MetaBirkin NFTs in his possession; to have him inform Hermès of any profits he has made from the project since the start of the trial and then give those funds to Hermès; and to have him contact MetaBirkin holders and notify them of the injunction.

In a statement to ART news, Rothschild’s legal team said: “This case is far from over. This latest filing is a gross assault by Hermes and an attempt to punish Mr. Rothschild because they don’t like his art, but what’s new? Mr. Rothschild will answer in court in due course.”