Much like in the physical world, someone will want to present themselves in a certain way. Also companies are now starting to fully anticipate this. Products and services are offered/sold as NFT. In order to maintain ones unique market position in the new online world, trademark registrations are now also being sought for NFTs by companies the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Heineken and Nike.
Fraud with NFTs is commonplace according to OpenSea (a large marketplace for NFT items). Nike has recently sued online platform StockX, because a virtual sneaker from Nike was offered virtually as NFT there. Consumers might conclude this is with consent from Nike, but this isn’t the case. (Nike had announced to launch sneakers as NFT with another party, RTFKT).
Although an NFT is just a representation of the actual product, legally it is not the same (just like a miniature car and a real car aren’t the same). For that reason, more and more companies are protecting their brands not only for the actual products, but also for NFTs.
