- Yuga Labs won its legal battle against Ryder Ripps
- The state of APE continued to worsen as prices declined, however
Yuga Labs, responsible for the creation of the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s [BAYC] NFT collection, has gained significant attention and popularity with its unique NFTs. They claimed ownership of several unregistered trademarks, including the BAYC Marks, which they have been using since April 2021.
Yuga Labs in 2022 filed a lawsuit against the creators of a copycat NFT project alleging trademark infringement, false advertising, and unfair competition. Now, the courts have come up with a ruling in their favor after a long legal battle.
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Yuga Labs goes for a “Ryde”
Ryder Ripps, a visual artist and creative designer, criticized Yuga Labs for allegedly embedding racist, neo-Nazi, and alt-right dog whistles in their NFTs and associated projects.
Ripps began criticizing Yuga’s actions in November 2021 through various social media platforms and by creating a website called gordongoner.com. Ripps, with his partner Jeremy Cahen, created their own NFT collection in May 2022 – Ryder Ripps Bored Ape Yacht Club (RR/BAYC).
This contributed to a dispute between Ryder Ripps and Yuga Labs, one which eventually led to the legal battle.
Yuga Labs argued that it should win the false designation of origin claim because they own the BAYC Marks and that defendants (Ryder Ripps) used those marks without Yuga Labs’ consent. Yuga Labs believed that they were entitled to compensation and injunctive relief as well.
In response, Ryder Ripps argued that Yuga Labs doesn’t actually own the BAYC Marks for NFTs and that NFTs aren’t eligible for trademark protection. Defendants also argued that Yuga abandoned their trademark rights through licensing and lack of policing.
The final decision?
Due to the overwhelming evidence in favor of Yuga Labs, the court granted summary judgment against Ryder Ripps.
A summary judgment means that the court has decided the case in Yuga Labs’ favor without going to trial. This can happen when the court determines that there are no material facts in dispute and that the moving party (in this case, Yuga Labs) is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
In other words, the court decided that there is no need for a trial because the evidence showed that Yuga Labs should win the case.
Realistic or not, here’s APE’s market cap in BTC terms
A look at the state of Ape
However, these events did not have much of an impact on APE, the token related to Yuga Labs. Its price continued to decline, despite the increase in supply being held by top addresses.
This was also a sign that retail investors have started to lose interest in the APE tokens.
Source: Santiment
