A design company that sells smartwatch faces through NFTs has sued LVMH, accusing the luxury fashion group of patent infringement.
In a lawsuit filed on March 10 in a federal court in Texas, Watch Skins accused LVMH of misappropriating its “pioneering NFT display technology.”
Watch Skins claims it has developed a unique system that allows users to display authenticated NFT artworks on smartwatches and owns multiple patents related to the technology.
It claims that a smartwatch from LVMH’s watch brand TAG Heuer and other products from the group’s brands illegally use NFT display technology based on three patents owned by Watch Skins.
LVMH is a multinational holding company that owns dozens of well-known luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, TAG Heuer, Tiffany, Christian Dior, Hennessy and champagne brand Moët & Chandon.
Watch Skins said its first patent involves a system for verifying ownership of an NFT before allowing it to be displayed on a watch face, the second patent involves a system where an NFT must be verified through a blockchain wallet before it can be displayed on a smartwatch, and the third patent focuses on NFT ownership retrieval and display of custom watch faces.
The company claims that TAG Heuer encourages customers to infringe patents by providing instructions on how to use its NFT display feature.
It explained: “If the NFT belongs to the user’s crypto wallet, the watch allows the display of the NFT and is connected to the user’s crypto wallet to guarantee the authenticity of the displayed work.”
Watch Skins is asking for a jury trial and damages for lost profits and royalties due to infringement, and for a court order prohibiting LVMH from further using the patented technology.
The company announced the launch of the world’s first blockchain NFT watch face marketplace at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The mobile app enables consumers “to purchase authentic, authorized smart watch faces from their favorite brands,” Watch Skins said at the time.
