Hermès Seeks Stronger Block of MetaBirkins NFT Sales

By Sander Lutz

Luxury brand Hermès notched a major legal victory last month against MetaBirkins, an NFT collection found to have violated trademarks protecting the French designer’s Birkin handbag. But despite the ruling's historic nature, Hermès still isn't satisfied.

The luxury house filed a motion on Friday asking for the court to issue a permanent injunction specifically barring MetaBirkins creator Mason Rothschild from ever selling MetaBirkins NFTs again. Such a block would represent a more severe action against the NFT creator than what a Manhattan jury previously handed down in early February. 

“Notwithstanding the verdict in Hermès’s favor, Rothschild continues to promote MetaBirkins NFT sales through various social media channels, and he will obtain a royalty from any such sales,” attorneys for the fashion giant wrote. “Rothschild’s past and present conduct demonstrates he is likely to continue infringing Hermès’s trademarks if a permanent injunction is not issued.”

Hermès’ attorneys argued that since February’s verdict, Rothschild still remains in a position to profit from the MetaBirkins NFT collection, while he meanwhile continues to publicly speak out against the jury’s decision.

The company claims those actions, in conjunction with Rothschild’s past conduct, have caused irreparable harm to Hermès, and cannot be remedied with standard monetary compensation. It would need to prove both assertions for an injunction to be ordered. 

Rothschild did, in fact, tweet repeatedly in the days following the case’s verdict, lambasting jury members for not finding his NFT collection to have possessed sufficient “artistic relevance” to be considered free speech. 

But beyond defenses of his project’s artistic legitimacy, Rothschild does not appear to have posted anything that specifically directed followers to purchase MetaBirkins NFTs following the verdict. In Friday’s filing, attorneys for Hermès primarily took issue with Rothschild’s repeated tagging of the MetaBirkins collection’s Instagram handle in posts. 

Though MetaBirkins was banned from OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, the collection’s website is still active, as is its listing on NFT trading platform LooksRare. It does not appear, though, that any Metabirkins NFTs have sold since December.

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