Just a few weeks ago, StockX commenced with its initial official venture into NFTs, through the launch of StockX Vault. StockX is known as a hypebeast and sneakerhead cultural hub. In an endeavor to tokenize the physical assets thereof, StockX pursued a unique method to recognize ownership – however the real meaning thereof as well as its thorough implementation are ambiguous and require some clarity. In advance of that to happen, nonetheless, StockX will undergo some severe struggles, as prominent apparel company Nike is suing the venue for unauthorized trademark utilization.
Nike, StockX, and the exclusive NFT trademark utilization matter
As the field of NFTs is in the early days, there is a minute or no standard for the courts in terms of viewing the trademark integration as well as the utilization of the NFTs. Nevertheless, the present lawsuit deals with brand dilution. the legal case was filed by Nike in New York’s southern district asserting that the Nike trademarks are utilized by the Vault program of StockX without asking for approval. The complaint notes that no authorization has been given by Nike to StockX for using the respective Vault NFTs.
The consumers are likely to be misguided by the unauthorized products as this would create a wrong linkage between the respective products as well as those of Nike, along with diluting the prominent trademarks of Nike. Some much similar contempt has been expressed by the StockX critics in the earlier time over the extent of centralization of the Vault. The TOS of the brand state that in the Vault project anyone can essentially redeem an NFT from the hands of an owner at any time on the behalf of the platform for some experiential component.
Absence of precedent
It does not seem to be congruent with the features of true ownership typically linked with the NFTs. Though the legal suit could potentially be concluded in a settlement, it is important to be noted that there are even now several questions to be responded to regarding the IP utilization in the terms of NFTs. During the recent weeks, close attention was paid to the continued fight between Mason Rothschild – the creator of MetaBirkins (an NFT designer) – as well as Hermes (a fashion house).
The fashion platform formerly issued a cease-and-desist letter to Rothschild for his famous NFT collection, however, the call to discontinue the association with the program was openly discarded by Rothschild. The latest advancement brings out that Hermes has decided to file a legal case against Rothschild.
