Trademark Infringement Trial: Hermès vs. MetaBirkin

Trademark Infringement Trial: Hermès vs. MetaBirkin

French luxury design house Hermès filed a suit against digital artist Mason Rothschild after the artist released his Metabirkins non-fungible tokens (for short NFT) collection depicting the company's Birkin bag product without permission.

The trademark infringement trial between French luxury brand Hermès and digital artist Mason Rothschild is set to go ahead on 30th January, 2023 in a Manhattan federal court.

The brand alleged that the NFT artist of trademark infringement for promoting and selling MetaBirkins, an NFT collection said to be inspired by the group's Birkin bags.

The Trial and its related lawsuit can be traced back to 14th January, 2022 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, when Hermès lodged a complaint against Mason Rothschild after the artist allegedly refused to stop selling his NFT collection.

As per the filing document, Hermès contends that the collection has wrongly used the Birkin trademark and potentially mislead customers into believing the luxury brands aids the project.

Additionally, the filing also discloses Rothschild, believes his work is protected under the First Amendment, which allows for no limits on free expression.

Hermès alleged Rothschild of harming the fashion brand's ability to enter the NFT space, which has seen explosive growth since the start of the pandemic, though it has cooled in the past year as the crypto market crashed.

Hermès claimed in its court filings that Rothschild's actions, which included creating domain names and social media handles bearing the Birkin moniker, were what contributed in misleading the consumers.

Rothschild countered that the fact that he markets and sells his art does not mean that it is no longer art.

Hermès is represented by Baker and Hostetler LLP. Rothschild is represented by Lex Lumina PLLC and Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP.

Rothschild is represented by Lex Lumina PLLC, a recently formed intellectual property law firm composed of a group of renowned IP scholars from Harvard University, New York University, and the University of California Los Angeles.