Earlier this year, we saw the first high-profile lawsuit for trademark infringement in the metaverse – a response of the luxury fashion house Hermès to the MetaBirkins created by Mason Rothschild, which are an original version of the famous Birkin handbags in the form of NFTs. Does the virtual bag resemble the real one? This and many other questions are now being asked by lawyers and entrepreneurs all over the world.
According to the latest reports, the demand for digital gadgets is high, and the value of many NFTs reaches staggering amounts. The total price of a hundred of the aforementioned MetaBirkins amounted to almost $ 450K. No wonder that Hermès – the owner of the rights to the original Birkin purse – decided to take legal action.
Although today concepts nearest to the metaverse are the realms of online computer games – such as Minecraft, Roblox or Fortnite – the increase in popularity of parallel reality does not seem very distant. In a globalised economy, we work with people from different parts of the world on a daily basis, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, activity has moved largely to our homes. It is not hard to imagine that soon international businesses will set up offices in the metaverse, where we will meet colleagues living on the other side of the globe. After work, we will be able to go in multinational company for a drink, a concert or an NFT art exhibition.
Here, however, the first obstacles appear. NFT is a digital good, most often categorised as the Class 9 or 41 of the Nice classification. The trademarks of the Hermès fashion house for the appearance and name of the Birkin bag, on the other hand, are protected as handbags and leather goods belonging to Class 18. In the case of such a recognizable brand, it will likely not be a problem to demonstrate the reputation of the marks, which helps to prohibit the use of similar markings also for other goods and services. In other cases, however, the lack of proper trademark registration may cause problems.
Choosing the right brand protection strategy is a necessity in today’s world. Due to the rapid advancement of technology, its development must take into account not only current but also future areas of activity. The competitiveness of global market players will increasingly rely on their innovation. It is worth considering these issues today and ensuring optimal protection of your rights.
You can read more about NFT on our blog in article ‘Trademark infringements in the metaverse: The future is now’ by Karolina Brzezińska>>