Yuga Labs settles case, bars Ripps and Cahen from using BAYC trademarks

Yuga Labs settles BAYC trademark suit. A court order bars Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen from using Yuga’s imagery and marks; terms stay confidential.

The case ends a two-year fight over “RR/BAYC” copycat NFTs. The settlement is recorded in a court filing and reported by Reuters (Reuters, court filing PDF).

Yuga sued in July 2022, alleging Lanham Act violations after Ripps and Cahen launched RR/BAYC using identical BAYC imagery, claiming “appropriation art” and First Amendment protection (Reuters).

In March 2023, the district court found BAYC marks valid and protectable, and said the use likely caused consumer confusion. Several defenses failed, including fair use and First Amendment claims (Reuters).

After a remedies trial, an August 2023 judgment awarded Yuga over $8 million, including about $7 million in legal fees and disgorgement. The court ordered surrender of infringing NFTs and related IP (Reuters).

On appeal, the Ninth Circuit affirmed that NFTs qualify as “goods” under the Lanham Act, but reversed on consumer confusion and sent that issue to trial. That wiped the prior monetary award and set the stage for settlement (Reuters).

Ripps had also alleged BAYC art contained racist and antisemitic tropes. Yuga called this a harassment campaign and did not sue for defamation (Reuters).

Source: thomsonreuters