{"id":24474,"date":"2025-07-16T11:28:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T11:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/?p=24474"},"modified":"2025-12-29T11:15:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T11:15:44","slug":"surprising-decision-in-25-million-dolce-gabbana-nft-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/surprising-decision-in-25-million-dolce-gabbana-nft-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprising Decision in $25 Million Dolce &amp; Gabbana NFT Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Dolce &amp; Gabbana&#8217;s U.S. branch has been <strong>dismissed<\/strong> from the class-action lawsuit concerning the DGFamily NFT project. The future of the lawsuit is now uncertain. Dolce &amp; Gabbana&#8217;s U.S. arm has been <strong>spared<\/strong> from a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that its parent company abandoned a <strong>non-fungible token (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/nfts-news\/\" data-type=\"category\" data-id=\"128\">NFT<\/a><\/em>)<\/strong> project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the New York federal court sided with Dolce &amp; Gabbana USA Inc. in a ruling on Friday, dismissing the case on the grounds that the company was not an <strong>&#8220;alter ego&#8221;<\/strong> of its Italy-based parent company, Dolce &amp; Gabbana SRL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A group of NFT purchasers, in a lawsuit filed in May 2024 and <strong>amended<\/strong> in September, claimed that Dolce &amp; Gabbana and its U.S. branch were &#8220;<strong>effectively the same company<\/strong>&#8221; and had failed to deliver on promises made under the &#8220;<strong>DGFamily<\/strong>&#8221; NFT project, launched in 2022, retaining <strong>over $25 million<\/strong> from the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exoneration of Dolce &amp; Gabbana USA, the only U.S.-based defendant named in the lawsuit, has made the future of the case <strong>uncertain<\/strong>. Dubai-based NFT marketplace UNXD Inc. and Italy-based Bluebear Italia SRL, creator of an NFT collection called &#8220;inBetweeners,&#8221; were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. However, the court noted that the complaint had <strong>not been served<\/strong> on these companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lawsuit Allege Dolce &amp; Gabbana Abandoned NFT Project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"690\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Polygon-NFT-Sales-Hit-Record-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Polygon-NFT-Sales-Hit-Record-2.jpg 690w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Polygon-NFT-Sales-Hit-Record-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Polygon-NFT-Sales-Hit-Record-2-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The complaint claimed that Dolce &amp; Gabbana and UNXD jointly created and promoted DGFamily, a project that would provide purchasers with &#8220;<strong>high-value<\/strong>&#8221; benefits to be delivered <strong>quarterly over two years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alleged benefits included <strong>digital apparel<\/strong> for the Decentraland metaverse, <strong>physical clothing items<\/strong>, and <strong>live events<\/strong> for NFT holders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the lawsuit alleged that Dolce &amp; Gabbana <strong>&#8220;failed to provide the full set of promised benefits&#8221;<\/strong> and retained <strong>millions of dollars<\/strong> from the sale of the NFTs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">U.S. Arm Claimed No Involvement with NFTs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Understanding-the-11-Art-Term-in-NFTs-What-Does-It-Mean-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Understanding-the-11-Art-Term-in-NFTs-What-Does-It-Mean-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Understanding-the-11-Art-Term-in-NFTs-What-Does-It-Mean-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Understanding-the-11-Art-Term-in-NFTs-What-Does-It-Mean-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Understanding-the-11-Art-Term-in-NFTs-What-Does-It-Mean-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Understanding-the-11-Art-Term-in-NFTs-What-Does-It-Mean-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Understanding-the-11-Art-Term-in-NFTs-What-Does-It-Mean-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Understanding-the-11-Art-Term-in-NFTs-What-Does-It-Mean-scaled.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Dolce &amp; Gabbana USA filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in January, arguing that it was a <strong>separate legal entity<\/strong> from its Italian parent company and therefore could not be associated with its actions, adding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;D&amp;G USA did not enter into a joint venture with UNXD or any other entity to sell, promote, or market any NFTs.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company stated that the evidence in the complaint showed the NFT project originated from the Italian parent company, and the ties between the U.S. and Italian firms were <strong>not sufficiently alleged<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">According to the Judge, the Lawsuit Failed to Establish Distinction Between Dolce &amp; Gabbana USA and Italian Firm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/NFT-Dictionary-33-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/NFT-Dictionary-33-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/NFT-Dictionary-33-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/NFT-Dictionary-33-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/NFT-Dictionary-33-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/NFT-Dictionary-33.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Judge Buchwald stated that the lawsuit was <strong>&#8220;plainly insufficient to resist D&amp;G USA\u2019s motion to dismiss&#8221;<\/strong> because both the U.S. and Italian companies are referred to as &#8220;Dolce &amp; Gabbana,&#8221; and all alleged misconduct is attributed to this common name, without distinguishing what each entity did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related: <strong>NFT Sales Explode: 2.82 Billion Dollars in Increased Interest in the First Half of 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The amended complaint alleged &#8220;<strong>overlapping ownership, directors, and personnel<\/strong>&#8221; between the two companies, such as shared positions like CEO, chief operating officer, and IT and marketing executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the lawsuit failed to provide <strong>&#8220;specific examples&#8221;<\/strong> of how these executives were involved in the NFT project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buchwald stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Court finds that Plaintiff has not sufficiently alleged that D&amp;G S.R.L. completely dominated D&amp;G USA; even if D&amp;G S.R.L. shared some employees and office space with D&amp;G USA.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You Might Also Like;<\/h3>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts\"><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dolce &amp; Gabbana&#8217;s U.S. branch has been dismissed from the class-action lawsuit concerning the DGFamily NFT project. The future of the lawsuit is now uncertain. Dolce &amp; Gabbana&#8217;s U.S. arm has been spared from a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that its parent company abandoned a non-fungible token (NFT) project. U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAown96uCw:productID":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[316],"class_list":["post-24474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-web3new","tag-nft"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}