NFTs, the complicated relationship with real world products and trade marks office practices

Are NFTs which depict real world goods the modern-day equivalent of Andy Warhol's Campbell soup pop-art, or are they the work of swindlers trying to make a buck off the reputation of well-known brands?

There has been heavy speculation over the last two years on how intellectual property will operate in the emerging virtual arena that is the Metaverse and similar digital spaces.

The ongoing dispute between the luxury goods company Hermès and Mason Rothschild has been one of the first to consider the extent to which trade marks for "real world" products extend to virtual worlds.

Rothschild, created and sold 100 "MetaBirkins" - digital artworks tied to non-fungible tokens that copy the design of the coveted Birkin bag. Whilst Hermès owns trade mark registrations in the United States for BIRKIN covering physical bags, the registrations do not cover virtual goods or the design of the bag.