Hermes seeks court injunction to halt sales of MetaBirkin NFTs: Reuters
Quick Take
- The fashion brand wants the court to force digital artist Mason Rothschild to stop promoting the NFTs based on Hermes’s famous Birkin bags.
- Last month a federal court ordered Rothschild to pay $133,000 in damages.
Luxury fashion brand Hermès is asking a federal court to block sales of non-fungible tokens based on its popular Birkin bag, according to Reuters.
Last month, a New York jury ruled digital artist Mason Rothschild had violated Hermès’s intellectual property rights by promoting and selling his "MetaBirkin" NFTs based on the Birkin bags. Rothschild was ordered to pay $133,000 in damages.
Hermès alleges in its filing that Rothschild has continued to promote the NFTs despite the ruling, Reuters said. The fashion company wants the federal court to intervene and force Rothschild to not only stop selling the digital assets but also transfer the NFTs he still owns to Hermès.
The court’s February ruling in favor of Hermès has been considered significant and potentially precedent-setting as whether or not NFTs are art or commodities has been brought into question. As was the case with MetaBirkins, other artistic NFT collections have borrowed elements of existing intellectual property.
Rothschild’s lawyer plans to oppose Hermes’s filing this week, said Reuters.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.