Hermès sues artist over Metabirkins NFT collection

The French fashion house Hermes filed a lawsuit against digital artist Mason Rothschild following the release of the Metabirkins non-fungible token (NFT) collection.

The NFTs depict Birkin bags covered in colorful fur rather than leather. The product is named after the Anglo-French singer and actress of theatre and cinema Jane Birkin.

In Hermes’s view, the collection improperly used the Birkin trademark. This could mislead buyers into thinking the luxury brand endorsed the project, the lawsuit alleges.

A new hearing on the Hermes trademark-infringement case is scheduled for January 30 in a federal court in Manhattan. The artist declined to halt sales of his NFT collection.

Getting big life experience points this week. Putting my big boy pants on — fighting for myself and everyone who believes in the freedom to create art.

— Mason Rothschild (@MasonRothschild) January 26, 2023

A number of lawyers say the case could have consequences for the NFT industry. In particular, the case could answer the question of the extent to which real-world trademarks are protected in the digital realm, noted Laura Lamanski of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP.

As a reminder, in February 2022, Nike filed a lawsuit against online retailer StockX for unauthorized sale of sneaker images as NFTs.

In September, director Quentin Tarantino and Miramax settled the dispute over a collection of non-fungible tokens based on the film Pulp Fiction.

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