News & Analysis as of

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Corporate Counsel

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

Monkey Business No More: Ninth Circuit Rules NFTs Are Protected by Trademark Law, Confirms the Limits of Expressive Speech...

Key Takeaways - The Ninth Circuit confirmed that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are ‘goods’ under the Lanham Act and can be protected by trademark law....more

Latham & Watkins LLP

SEC Reels in Fishy NFT Project

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In its third action involving NFTs, the SEC targets a restaurant membership token tied to fundraising and promises of potential price appreciation for buyers....more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Top 5 SEC Developments for August 2023

In order to provide an overview for busy in-house counsel and compliance professionals, we summarize below some of the most important SEC enforcement developments from the past month, with links to primary resources. This...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

The SEC’s First NFT Enforcement Action: SEC v. Impact Theory

Key Points - On August 28, 2023, the SEC charged Impact Theory, LLC, a media company with an unregistered securities offering through its sale of NFTs. This marks the first time that the SEC has brought an enforcement action...more

Goodwin

MetaBirkins Post-Trial Ruling Clarifies Line Between Trademark Infringement and Free Expression and Grants Broad Injunctive Relief

Goodwin on

On Friday, June 23, 2023, Judge Jed Rakoff issued a highly anticipated decision, permanently enjoining artist Mason Rothschild from selling “MetaBirkin” NFTs, which depict furry, digital versions of the Hermès signature...more

BakerHostetler

Jury Finds Former NFT Marketplace Manager Guilty of 'Insider Trading' Wire Fraud Scheme and Money Laundering

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On May 3, 2023, a jury found Nathaniel Chastain, a former manager of OpenSea (a major NFT marketplace), guilty of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with his attempts to conceal his use of confidential business...more

BakerHostetler

U.S. District Court Signals That In Certain Cases, NFTs May Qualify as Securities

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Dapper Labs was founded in 2018 shortly after the debut of its first NFT collection, “CryptoKitties,” which was so successful it created a bottleneck of transactions on the decentralized Ethereum Network. Seeking faster...more

BCLP

Catch me if you can: How the English Courts are adapting to remain an effective jurisdiction to combat crypto fraud

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The English courts have sought to lead the way in adjudicating crypto-related disputes and other technological matters in an international context. Recent decisions have demonstrated the English courts’ willingness to assist...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Hermès Successfully Defends its Trademark in the Metaverse

How far does a trademark extend into the digital art world? French luxury fashion brand Hermès sought to answer this question in its precedent-setting case against artist Mason Rothschild, which concluded with a win for...more

ArentFox Schiff

Breaking News - Hermès Makes History With First NFT Trademark Trial Victory

ArentFox Schiff on

A New York City jury just returned a verdict in favor of Hermès in a historic dispute between the luxury fashion house and digital artist Mason Rothschild over Hermès’ alleged trademark rights relating to Hermès’ famous...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Intellectual Property Law: Looking Forward to 2023

With the continuing advancements of cutting-edge technologies — such as genome editing (CRISPR) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) — U.S. courts will have a full docket of challenging IP cases throughout 2023. Below are some of...more

ArentFox Schiff

All Your Ether (Are) Belong To US: SEC Claims Jurisdiction Over Entire Ethereum (ETH) Network

ArentFox Schiff on

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an enforcement action against crypto influencer Ian Balina in the Western District of Texas alleging that he promoted unregistered securities in connection with the...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

European Digital Compliance: Key Digital Regulation & Compliance Developments - October 2022

Morrison & Foerster LLP on

To help organisations stay on top of the main developments in European digital compliance, Morrison Foerster’s European Digital Regulatory Compliance team reports on some of the main topical digital regulatory and compliance...more

ArentFox Schiff

First-of-a-Kind Crypto Insider Trading Prosecution: SEC-v-Wahi et al Action May Have Broad Implications Across the Digital Asset...

ArentFox Schiff on

As use of cryptocurrency investment has increased throughout the world, regulators have faced a bevy of novel questions, especially related to applying different strains of law to regulate novel digital assets. To date,...more

BakerHostetler

Decentralized Domains: Metaverse Land Grab

BakerHostetler on

As the metaverse continues to become a more established marketplace, and consumers become more familiar with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), NFT marketplaces, decentralized domains, bitcoin, crypto wallets and the blockchain, it...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

UK High Court Rules on Liability of Bitcoin Software Developers

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The Court held that software developers do not owe a duty of care to bitcoin owners who lost their private keys. In Tulip Trading Ltd (TTL) v. Bitcoin Association for BSV and others, TTL claimed that personal computers of...more

Pierce Atwood LLP

Federal Court Rules MetaBirkin NFTs Entitled to First Amendment Protection in Hermès Trademark Case

Pierce Atwood LLP on

In one of the first trademark cases involving NFTs (non-fungible tokens), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York’s opinion in Hermès International, et al. v. Mason Rothschild sheds new light on how...more

Kilpatrick

Crypto Enforcement Is Here, and Always Has Been

Kilpatrick on

There are those in the crypto sphere who, despite the strong warnings of several federal agencies, believe there can be no enforcement without crypto specific regulation. This is not the case. There are also those who believe...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

April 2022 Crypto Enforcement Actions And Regulatory Guidance Roundup

In April, we continued to see a steady pace in the seriousness and frequency of crypto enforcement actions by state and federal law enforcement.  (See our March 2022 Crypto Enforcement Actions Roundup blog here where we...more

Jones Day

NFTs: U.S., EU, and UK Key Copyright Considerations

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NFTs are verifiable cryptographic tokens, which can act as a form of digital receipt. NFTs can also be used to evidence the authenticity, ownership, and provenance of real-world items, such as artwork and real property, or...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

As NFTs Blur the Line Between “Receipt” and “Product”, Trademarks Owners Fight Over New Virtual Markets

Last month, our post about art NFTs and the DMCA highlighted the distinction between non-fungible tokens and the copyrighted works they represent. In the context of copyright, this dichotomy is generally uncontroversial: In...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

European Digital Compliance: Key Digital Regulation & Compliance Developments - April 2022

To help organisations stay on top of the main developments in European digital compliance, Morrison & Foerster’s European Digital Regulatory Compliance team reports on some of the main European digital regulatory and...more

Tonkon Torp LLP

Can Some NFTs be Considered Securities? The SEC Is Watching

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is ramping up its investigation and potential enforcement activities against sellers of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers. Regulators...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Non-fungible Token Litigation Primer: A Tort Class Action

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A Feb. 28, 2022, McGuireWoods alert discussing a recent case concerning non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and breach-of-contract claims suggested that future litigation over digital assets — especially as it relates to tort claims...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Non-fungible Token Litigation Primer: A Look at McKimmy v. OpenSea

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Since 2020, the market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has grown rapidly. NFTs are units of data stored in a distributed ledger that represent unique collectibles, artwork or other property and can be sold and traded. (For a...more

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