Specialist Web 3.0 counsel for international brands. From NFT design and trademark protection in virtual goods to blockchain domain disputes, MiCA compliance and cybersecurity, Dreyfus & Associés helps clients in the US, UK, India, China and the EU secure their digital assets across NFTs, the metaverse and decentralised platforms with the precision of European IP law.
Reviewed by Nathalie Dreyfus, European Trademark and Patent Attorney, Founder of Dreyfus & Associés. Last updated: June 2026.
Web 3.0 is not a marketing label. It is a stack of decentralised technologies that creates new legal categories: non-fungible tokens, fungible crypto-assets, smart contracts, blockchain domain names, decentralised storage and metaverse environments. Three reasons why your existing IP and IT contracts will not be enough.
Virtual goods are now a registrable trademark category. Since the 2023 EUIPO guidance and the USPTO post-Hermès v. Rothschild approach, a trademark covering only physical goods does not automatically extend to NFTs or virtual goods. Brands need targeted filings in Nice classes 9, 35, 41 and 42.
Blockchain domain names sit outside ICANN and UDRP. Extensions such as .eth, .crypto, .nft, .wallet, .coin, bitcoin and .dcl.eth are not regulated by ICANN, have no UDRP recovery mechanism, and rely on smart contracts. Recovery requires negotiation, marketplace delisting or wallet-level enforcement.
EU regulation has finally caught up. The MiCA Regulation, the Digital Services Act, the AI Act and NIS2 reshape what platforms, issuers and brand owners can do in Web 3.0. Compliance is now a market access condition, not an optional add-on.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 entered into application on 30 December 2024 for crypto-asset service providers, with full effect from 30 June 2024 for stablecoin issuers. It introduces the first harmonised EU framework for crypto-assets that are not financial instruments.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of 31 May 2023.
Since 23 June 2023, EUIPO accepts trademark filings for virtual goods provided they are specified by the nature of the goods (for example downloadable virtual clothing) and indexed in Nice class 9.
Source: EUIPO 2024 Guidelines and Common Communication CP13.
On 8 February 2023, a New York federal jury found that MetaBirkins NFTs infringed Hermès trademark rights, awarding 133,000 US dollars. It is the first US verdict treating NFTs as goods subject to trademark law and First Amendment Rogers analysis.
Source: Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild, S.D.N.Y., 2023.
Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2) applied since 17 October 2024 to essential and important entities, and Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 (Cyber Resilience Act) imposes security-by-design on connected products from 11 December 2027.
Source: Directive 2022/2555 and Regulation 2024/2847.
We map your trademark portfolio against virtual goods classes (Nice 9, 35, 41, 42), identify gaps versus your Web 3.0 roadmap (NFT drops, metaverse plans, blockchain domains), and benchmark against EUIPO and USPTO recent practice.
We file trademarks for virtual goods and services at EUIPO, USPTO, UKIPO, CNIPA and INDIA TM Registry. We secure key blockchain domain names (.eth, .crypto, .nft) and traditional zones to neutralise typosquatting and brand mimicry.
We monitor marketplaces (OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, Blur, LooksRare, X2Y2, Crypto.com, Binance NFT, Mintable, Solanart), virtual lands (Decentraland, The Sandbox, Cryptovoxels) and blockchain domains. We trigger takedowns, UDRP, civil action or smart-contract level remedies when infringements arise.
Not automatically. Since 2023, the EUIPO and USPTO require specific Nice class 9 wording such as downloadable digital files authenticated by non-fungible tokens. Brands with only class 25 or class 18 coverage are exposed when third parties mint NFTs reproducing their signs.
No. ICANN UDRP and ccTLD policies do not apply to blockchain extensions such as .eth, .crypto, .nft, .wallet, .coin or .dcl.eth. Recovery options include direct negotiation with the holder, marketplace delisting, on-chain seizure when possible and civil action.
MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, regulates crypto-asset issuers and service providers in the EU. Unique and non-fungible NFTs are excluded, but fractionalised, fungible or large-series NFTs may qualify as crypto-assets and trigger MiCA, AML and consumer protection obligations.
Typically the EU (MiCA, DSA, GDPR, AI Act), the US (state money transmission, SEC, USPTO), the UK (FCA, UKIPO), India (PMLA and IP filings), Hong Kong and Singapore (VASP licensing). Dreyfus coordinates filings and compliance across these jurisdictions through its international network.
Smart contracts are not above the law. French and EU rules on contract formation, consumer protection, Rome I and Rome II still apply. We draft a clear off-chain legal layer (terms, governing law, jurisdiction or arbitration clause) on top of the on-chain code.
Within 24 hours, we triage the incident, brief the management, coordinate with the CSIRT and DPO, and assess NIS2, GDPR and sectoral notification duties. We then handle insurer dialogue, regulator filings (CNIL, ANSSI, ENISA when relevant), and civil or criminal action against attackers when feasible.
