Hermès Seeks Full Control Over MetaBirkin NFTs

After succeeding in its lawsuit against Mason Rothchild over MetaBirkin NFTs, Hermès is now seeking more control over the digital collectibles in a new court order. On March 3, Hermès asked Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York (SDNY), to permanently block Rothschild from ever engaging with the brand in any capacity. More specifically, it wants the artist stopped from selling, promoting, and distributing any digital collectibles that are associated with the Birkin trademark.

Hermès filed a lawsuit against the artist at the start of 2022, alleging he had stolen its intellectual property when he created an NFT collection resembling Hermès’ iconic Birkin bag. The case dragged on for the better part of a year, before a jury ruled in favor of Hermès. As a result, the luxury brand was awarded $133,000 in damages.

Hermès Wants Everything Associated With MetaBirkin NFTs Transferred To Them

However, Hermès feels this isn’t enough given that Rothschild interfered with its future NFT plans. Now it wants him to transfer any MetaBirkin NFTs, smart contracts, domain names, and social media accounts to its control.

The court order also notes that the artist should transfer any royalties he has received from the MetaBirkins project. According to Hermès, Rothschild still earns 7.5% in creator royalties when the NFTs trade on the secondary market.

A quick dig on Etherscan data reveals that the last sale of a MetaBirkin NFT took place last November and cost 1.2 wrapped ether, or $1.555. On the other hand, the last transfer of these NFTs between different wallets took place in December.

The claims have been met with disgust from the Rothschild defense team. His attorney, Rhett Millsaps, terms the order “a gross overreach by Hermès and an attempt to punish Mr. Rothschild because they don’t like his art.”

Now the team plans to file a response to the latest development, with the attorney warning that the case is far from over.

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