Specialist NFT counsel for brands, creators, gaming studios and marketplaces. We secure your trademarks in virtual goods, draft enforceable mint terms and royalty structures, license tokenised works across jurisdictions, and turn your NFT roadmap into a defensible asset class compliant with EU IP law and post-Hermès v. Rothschild US practice.
Reviewed by Nathalie Dreyfus, European Trademark and Patent Attorney, Founder of Dreyfus & Associés. Last updated: June 2026.
An NFT is a unique cryptographic token recorded on a blockchain, with metadata pointing to a digital or physical asset. Legally, an NFT is not the work itself, but a proof of recordation. Buying an NFT does not transfer copyright unless the licence explicitly says so.
French law qualifies NFTs case by case: as a digital good, a movable good, a securitised token, or in rare cases as a digital asset. The civil regime depends on the underlying asset (artwork, collectible, ticket, in-game item, real estate fraction). Transactions are verifiable on chain explorers, which simplifies evidence but does not replace IP and contract law.
Unlike fungible cryptocurrencies, NFTs combine uniqueness, traceability and on-chain ownership records. They power digital art on Foundation, SuperRare and Async, music drops, gaming assets on Immutable and Ronin, ticketing, real-world asset tokenisation and metaverse land. Each use case requires its own IP and contract layer.
Since the 12th edition of the EUIPO Guidelines (2024), virtual goods authenticated by non-fungible tokens are classified in Nice class 9 and must be specified by content (for example downloadable virtual footwear).
Source: EUIPO Guidelines, Part B, Examination, 2024.
On 8 February 2023, a Southern District of New York jury awarded 133,000 US dollars to Hermès International against the creator of MetaBirkins NFTs, ruling that NFTs are subject to trademark law and the Rogers test which gives First Amendment protection to artistic works, did not shield the MetaBirkins NFTs because they were explicitly misleading as to their source.
Source: Hermès Int’l v. Rothschild, 22-cv-384, S.D.N.Y., 2023.
On 20 July 2022, the Court of Rome granted Juventus FC a preliminary injunction ordering the takedown and destruction of Blockeras NFTs reproducing the club’s trademarks without authorisation. It is considered the first European judicial decision on NFT trademark infringement, though rendered at the interim stage.
Source: Tribunale di Roma, 20 July 2022, RG 32072/2022.
Under Article L.111-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code, the author of a work enjoys exclusive incorporeal property rights from creation. Tokenising the work into an NFT does not assign these rights; an express licence is required.
Source: French Intellectual Property Code, Article L.111-1.
We assess the legal nature of your NFT (collectible, utility, security, hybrid), audit underlying IP rights (copyright, trademarks, designs, licensed assets), and confirm whether MiCA, DSA, AML or consumer protection rules apply to your model.
We file or extend trademarks for virtual goods in Nice classes 9, 35, 41 and 42 at EUIPO, USPTO, UKIPO, CNIPA and INDIA TM Registry. We secure copyright deposits, draft author and contributor agreements, and lock down the chain of title before mint.
We draft mint terms, royalty mechanics, secondary market licences (CC0, NFT licence 2.0, custom) and platform terms. We then put in place marketplace monitoring and an enforcement protocol to act fast on infringements.
EUIPO, USPTO, UKIPO and CNIPA filings for virtual goods and services in classes 9, 35, 41 and 42.
Author agreements, licence drafting, moral rights management, on-chain recordation strategy.
Transaction tracking, royalty enforcement, marketplace strategy and valuation support for collectors.
Trademark coverage for virtual goods, IP licensing in Decentraland and The Sandbox, virtual land protection.
Terms of mint, secondary market royalties, KYC, AML and DSA compliance for issuers and platforms.
Continuous watch on OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, Blur, Crypto.com NFT and blockchain domain extensions.
Without trademark and copyright protection, third parties can mint copycats, dilute your brand and capture secondary royalties. Filing trademarks in virtual goods classes and recording authorship grants exclusive rights, enables marketplace takedowns and supports civil action against infringers.
No. Under French and EU copyright law, transferring an NFT does not transfer the underlying author rights unless the licence expressly says so. We draft tailored licence terms (personal use, commercial use, derivative works) attached to each token.
Structured portfolio management ensures royalty collection across marketplaces, supports tax and accounting reporting, prevents unauthorised use through monitoring, and maximises long-term value through strategic licensing, exhibitions or partnerships.
We coordinate trademark filings at EUIPO, USPTO, UKIPO, CNIPA and INDIA TM Registry, secure blockchain domain names (.eth, .crypto, .nft), and engage a network of correspondents in the US, UK, India, China, Singapore and Hong Kong for local enforcement and litigation.
Monitoring means tracking marketplaces, virtual lands and blockchain domains to detect unauthorised reproductions of your trademarks or works. It enables fast takedowns and pre-litigation, before counterfeits dilute the value of your collection.
Yes. We map your roadmap against MiCA (crypto-assets), the AI Act (generative tools), the DSA (marketplace duties) and AML directives, and build practical compliance into your design, terms and governance, so innovation does not become a regulatory liability.
