<\/p>\n
The US arm of Dolce & Gabbana has escaped a proposed class-action lawsuit over its parent company\u2019s alleged abandonment of a non-fungible token (NFT) project.<\/p>\n
In an order<\/a> on Friday, New York federal court judge Naomi Reice Buchwald sided with Dolce & Gabbana USA Inc., dismissing the lawsuit because it wasn\u2019t an \u201calter ego\u201d of its Italy-based parent, Dolce & Gabbana SRL.<\/p>\n A group of NFT buyers claimed in a lawsuit filed in May 2024<\/a> and updated<\/a> in September that Dolce & Gabbana and its US arm \u201care effectively the same company\u201d that failed to deliver on its \u201cDGFamily\u201d NFT project launched in 2022 and kept over $25 million from it.<\/p>\n The future of the suit is in doubt as Dolce & Gabbana USA was the sole US-based defendant. The Dubai-based NFT marketplace<\/a> UNXD Inc. and the Italy-based Bluebear Italia SRL \u2014 the creator of an NFT collection called \u201cinBetweeners\u201d \u2014 were also named as defendants, which the court noted were not served with the complaint.<\/p>\n The complaint alleged that Dolce & Gabbana and UNXD together made and promoted DGFamily, which would give buyers \u201chigh value\u201d benefits to be delivered over two years at a rate of once per quarter.<\/p>\n Some of the allegedly promised perks were digital outfits<\/a> for the Decentraland metaverse, physical clothing and live events for NFT holders.<\/p>\n However, the lawsuit claimed Dolce & Gabbana \u201cfailed to provide the complete set of benefits they promised\u201d and kept millions of dollars from selling the NFTs.<\/p>\n Dolce & Gabbana USA filed to dismiss the suit in January, arguing that it was a separate entity that couldn\u2019t be tied to the actions of its Italian parent company.<\/p>\n \u201cD&G USA has not entered into any joint venture with UNXD, or any other entity, to sell, advertise, or promote any NFTs,\u201d it argued.<\/p>\n The firm argued that the complaint\u2019s evidence had established that the NFT project originated from its parent company in Italy and that it had not sufficiently alleged ties between the US and Italian firms.<\/p>\n Judge Buchwald said the lawsuit was \u201cplainly insufficient to withstand D&G USA\u2019s motion to dismiss\u201d as it referred to both the US and Italian company \u201cas \u2018Dolce & Gabbana\u2019 and attributes all misconduct to this shared moniker, without differentiating what each entity did.\u201d<\/p>\nLawsuit claimed Dolce & Gabbana abandoned NFT project<\/h2>\n
US arm argued it wasn\u2019t involved in NFTs<\/h2>\n
Lawsuit failed to separate Dolce & Gabbana USA and Italian firm: Judge<\/h2>\n