Hermes pursues jury nod for trademark violation vs 'MetaBirkins' NFT creator

French fashion house Hermes International SCA urged a US jury to find that Mason Rothschild, a creator of NFTs dubbed MetaBirkins, violated its trademark for Birkin bags,

Rothschild lawyers argued that the MetaBirkins NFTs were art.

Hermes sued Rothschild in 2022 to recover profits the latter made by selling NFTs depicting Birkin bags covered in colorful fur without seeking its permission.

According to Hermes, Rothschild tricked consumers into believing he had partnered with them to sell the digital assets.

Oren Warshavsky, a lawyer for Hermes, told jurors in closing arguments in Manhattan federal court that Rothschild wanted to cash in on the Birkin name,.

Warshavsky added that Hermes was working on its Birkin NFTs when Rothschild tried to beat the company to the market.

There was also a cease-and-desist letter on Decemebr 2021 demanding Rothschild stop selling the NFTs.

Meanwhile, Rothschild’s lawyer, Rhett Millsaps, countered that the NFTs were a constitutionally-protected "artistic experiment".

Jonathan Harris, another Rothschild lawyer, claimed his client added a disclaimer stating that Hermes was not associated with the NFTs after he received the cease-and-desist letter.