Court Orders Permanent Injunction in Hermes NFT Infringement Case

• Rothschild asked the Judge to overturn the decision or retry the case, but he refused.
• In March, Hermes claimed that Rothschild kept selling NFTs even after the ruling.

On Friday, a federal court in Manhattan accepted Hermes’ plea to permanently stop the sale of “MetaBirkin” non-fungible tokens by artist Mason Rothschild, after a jury found that the tokens infringed on the French luxury house’s trademark rights in its famous Birkin handbags.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said that a permanent injunction was necessary because continuing to sell the NFTs by Rothschild would likely lead to consumer confusion and irreparable injury to the firm. Rothschild asked the Judge to overturn the decision or retry the case, but he refused.

According to the Judge:

“The defendant’s entire scheme here was to defraud consumers into believing that Hermes was endorsing his lucrative MetaBirkins NFTs by his use of variations on Hermes’ trademarks.”

Banking on Brand Value

Moreover, as per the judge, the First Amendment does not provide him with any protection from prosecution for his plan. Last year, Hermes filed a lawsuit against Rothschild for his MetaBirkins, 100 NFTs linked to pictures of the luxury brand’s signature Birkin bags with brightly colored fur.

Hermes said that Rothschild was a “digital speculator” and the NFTs were a “get rich quick” scheme that violated its “Birkin” trademark and gave the false outlook that the fashion brand supported the NFTs. In February, the jury rules in favor of Hermes and awarded the firm $133,000.

In a March complaint, Hermes claimed that Rothschild kept selling his NFTs even after the ruling. It pleaded with the court to order him to halt and hand over any leftover tokens and profits he had made as a result of the trial.

To a significant extent, Rakoff approved Hermes’ request; but, because of an “abundance of caution” on 1st Amendment issues, he did not force Rothschild to transfer the tokens.

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