The court has sided with Hermès in the latest round of the trademark infringement and dilution lawsuit that it waged over the sale of the MetaBirkins non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”). On the heels of a favorable jury verdict for Hermès in February, Judge Jed Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied MetaBirkins creator Mason Rothschild (“real name: Sonny Estival”)’s request for a judgment of law in his favor – or alternatively, a new trial – and granted Hermès’ petition for a permanent injunction, which bars Rothschild from continuing to market the Birkin artwork-linked NFTs and using the MetaBirkins domain, among other things.
Setting the stage in an opinion and order on Friday, Judge Rakoff stated that after a 9-day trial, an 8-person civil jury returned a unanimous verdict, finding Rothschild liable on all three trademark claims and awarding Hermès $133,000 in damages. “As the jury expressly found, Rothschild, a self-described ‘marketing strategist,’ purposely sought (with some success) to confuse consumers into believing that his [MetaBirkins] NFTs and associated metabirkins.com website were affiliated with Hermès’ iconic ‘Birkin’ trademarks.”
Read full story at Fashion Law
