Court Rules in Favor of Hermès Against MataBirkin NFT Artist

June 27, 2023

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A recent court ruling has turned out in favour of the French luxury retailer brand Hermès. United States District Judge Jed Rakof ordered a permanent injunction of artist Mason Rothschild’s sales of “MetaBirkin” Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on Friday, June 23rd.

The federal judge’s verdict was on the premise that Rothschild’s move infringed on Hermès’ trademark rights, especially for the popular Hermès’ prized leather Birkin handbags which are known to sell for tens of thousands of dollars each.

NFT Artist Accused of Trademark Infringement

Specifically, the ongoing promotion of the MetaBirkin NFTs was going to confuse Hermès customers and may harm the brand in the long run. According to a statement by Judge Rakof,

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“Defendant’s entire scheme here was to defraud consumers into believing, by his use of variations on Hermès’ trademarks, that Hermes was endorsing his lucrative MetaBirkins NFTs. Nothing in the First Amendment insulates him from liability for such a scheme.”

Hermès Looks Out For Customers

The enforcement action against Rothschild started in January when the French luxury fashion store accused the artist of using its Birkin trademark without permission or authorization. Hermès mentioned that the NFTs were misleading their customers into believing that the brand was associated with the digital collection. This led to a series of court hearings after which a ruling was made.

Following a nine-member jury verdict, the court finally ruled that Rothschild had actually violated Hermès trademark. Although the artist argued that his work is an artistic expression protected by the first amendment, he was still required to pay $133,000 in damages. He compared his ongoing promotion to Andy Warhol who legally makes and sells art featuring Campbell’s soup cans.

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Court Rejects Artist Disclaimer Defence

However, the court decided that the use of the term “Birkin” nullifies his argument and therefore, his disclaimer defence was rejected.

Hermès filed the injunction motion at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York sometime in March. The motion requested that the court block all sales of the MetaBirken NFTs. This collection of interest consists of 100 pieces of NFTs illustrating a furry design of Birkin bags. Reportedly, Rothschild made over $1 million from the sales of these artworks.