Courts Offer More Guidance on Enforcing Rights to Brands and Images Used with NFTs

Trademark attorneys Thomas Brooke and Cynthia Gierhart and Law Clerk Rodrigo Velasco Portal wrote a column for The Licensing Journal about a recent court case in which a defendant was found liable for trademark infringement, trademark dilution and unlawful cybersquatting. The article also discusses how digital artwork non-fungible tokens (NFTs), known as "metamasks," are being used in various ways, including as a way to monetize digital art. In a recent pre-trial motion, a U.S. District Court ruled that the Rogers test does not apply to digital artwork NFTs, meaning that artists could potentially be held liable for trademark infringement if they produce and sell metamasks without the permission of the trademark owner. The authors note that these decisions will help set parameters and guideposts for using blockchain technology in intellectual property disputes.

The attorneys also published an IP/Decode Blog discussing this topic.

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