The statement conveyed by French luxury house Hermès revealed it filed a petition seeking the court’s approval to exercise control over the MetaBirkins smart contracting, royalties, and related social media platforms.
Hermès International Pursues Justice in New York
Hermès International confirmed petitioning the New York-based court to ban non-fungible token (NFT) creator Mason Rothschild from disposing of or prompting MetaBirkin’s NFTs. The French luxury house cited the landmark verdict reached by a jury in February.
The verdict related to the lawsuit against Rothschild by Hermès International in January 2022 alleging intellectual property theft. Documents annexed to the filing accused the Los Angeles-based artist of using stolen intellectual property to develop a 100-edition NFT collection.
Stolen Intellectual Property Leveraged to Create NFTs Referencing Birkin Bag
Hermès International argues that Rothschild leveraged the stolen intellectual property to create the NFTs collection by referencing its iconic Birkin bag. The two parties would become embroiled in a lengthy legal battle that ended in a nine-member jury ruling to grant Hermès’ motion. Besides, the jury awarded the French luxury house damages of $133000.
The motion filed by Hermès International before Judge Jed Rakoff petitions the Southern District Court of New York to issue a permanent ban to Rothschild. The motion seeks to hinder Rothschild from dealing in the NFTs utilizing the Birkin trademark. The injunction would prohibit the artist from disposing of, promoting, or distributing the NFTs.
Cede Control and Return Proceeds
Hermès International fashion house directed Rothschild to cede control of the Metabirkin-based NFTs he possesses to its designated wallet. Further, the firm seeks the transfer of controlling the MetaBirkins smart contract, related domain names, and social media handles.
The French brand instructed Rothschild to transfer all royalties since the MetaBirkins project concluded.
The luxury fashion house cited Etherscan data indicating the artist owes its proceeds for the November sale of the MetaBirkin-based NFT. In particular, Hermès International claims the 1.2 wrapped ether yielded $1555.
Also included in the claim is the MetaBirkin NFT transferred in December last year across various wallets.
Notably, Rothschild only realized modest earnings since his compensation was pegged on the incremental income from secondary sales. The returns are meager, considering the Metabirkin project earned $1.1 million from the transacted volume. The litigation would prompt OpensSea to pull down the project.
Rothschild Attorney Terms Hermès International Desires as Grossly Overarching
The counsel representing Rothschild, Rhett Millsaps, dismissed the directive sought by Hermès International, terming it as grossly overreaching.
The counsel ruled out that the case was over as it only amounted to punishing Rothschild for his reputable art.
He expressed confidence in overturning the ruling through the response, whose filing is scheduled on Friday.
Editorial credit: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com
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