Since 2021, NFTs have been evolving rapidly as they digitally represent the artists’ works in the metaverse. NFTs are the digital units or metadata of anything, such as images, videos, clothes, shoes, etc., stored using blockchain technology.
NFTs are non-fungible and cannot be interchanged as they should be unique. In the physical world, we could have seen some IP-related or infringement issues over the past years. However, the same issues can also happen when tokenizing the assets in the metaverse. Let us look at the overview of the NFT Hermés case on the MetaBirkins NFTs.
Hermés and the MetaBirkins: An Overview
We all know about one of the most famous luxury brands in the USA, the Hermés. It is a well-known brand for footwear, bags, and accessories. In December 2021, Mason Rothschild, a Los Angeles artist, created NFTs, the MetaBirkins based on the luxury bags of Hermés. The NFTs represent the imagination of how Hermés bags appear if they are made of fur. The Metabirkins are among the highest-selling NFTs on the most extensive NFT marketplace, the OpenSea, and the royalty generated from the NFTs is relatively huge. Soon after the launch, Hermés filed an infringement suit against Rothschild for violating their brand’s trademark protection.
The brand issued a cease-and-desist order and demanded the court to impose an injunction to stop the MetBirkins sales permanently. In compliance with this, the OpenSea platform stopped selling MetaBirkins, but they continue being sold from other market platforms.
The Views of the Parties
According to Hermés, Rothschild has diluted their trademarks over the signature Birkin bags and suspects that in the future, the MetaBirkins NFTs may affect the growth of NFTs owned by Hermés itself. So the brand demanded the profits and royalties earned from the MetaBerkins to be handed over to them. The brand clearly doesn’t authorize any creation or modification of its products by anyone, as trademark rights legally protect them.
However, Rothschild believes his MetaBerkins won’t create customer confusion since his NFTs represent furry bags different from the brands. He also mentioned that his NFTs are not affiliated with the brand. He also added that, apart from his NFTs, there was another inspiration from Birkin named the Baby Birkin, for which there was no dispute between them.
ConclusionNo matter how the world is digitalized, the IP infringement regulations apply to the metaverse too. For any artist who tries to create an NFT in the metaverse, it is always better to carefully check whether their work will cause any infringement issues. Before tokenizing their NFTs, it is recommended to seek an attorney or legal person to check whether their NFTs are unique and cause no disputes with existing brands. Since NFTs will be more prevalent in the future, creators should be more careful while creating NFTs for commercial use.