Judge grants Hermès request to halt all ‘MetaBirkin’ NFT sales
The MetaBirkin creator argued that his project was protected under the first amendment as artistic expression; however, that defense ultimately fell short. French luxury fashion house Hermès has notched another win in its infringement case against artist Mason Rothschild after a United States judge ordered a permanent injunction on all “MetaBirkin” nonfungible token (NFT) sales . Hermès initially submitted the request to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in March to block all sales of the MetaBirkin NFTs. On June 23, Manhattan-based U.S. Judge Jed Rakoff officially granted the request , and he offered a skeptical take on Rothschild’s defense against Hermès’ suit, questioning Rothchild’s continued marketing of the project. “[The] defendant’s entire scheme here was to defraud consumers into believing, by his use of variations on Hermes’ trademarks, that Hermes was endorsing his lucrative MetaBirkins NFTs,“ Rakoff said, adding that: “Nothing in the First Ame...