Yuga Labs has reached an agreement with artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen, bringing their two-year legal battle over “Bored Ape” NFTs to an end. According to documents filed in a California federal court, the agreement permanently prohibits Ripps and Cahen from using Yuga Labs’ trademarks and associated imagery.
The End of a Legal Battle
While the specific financial terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, the decision means the parties will avoid a jury trial. At the heart of the lawsuit was whether the RR/BAYC NFT collection released by Ripps and Cahen was a legitimate piece of satirical art or a trademark infringement of Yuga Labs’ flagship “Bored Ape Yacht Club” brand.
Yuga Labs filed the lawsuit in 2022, accusing the defendants of misleading consumers and profiting millions of dollars by reselling “Bored Ape” imagery as counterfeit NFTs. The defendants had consistently argued that their work was a satirical commentary on the Bored Ape series.
The case had seen several twists and turns. A district judge initially ruled in favor of Yuga Labs, ordering the defendants to pay nearly $9 million in damages. However, an appeals court later overturned that ruling, ordering a jury to determine whether buyers were genuinely misled. With this settlement, the high-profile Web3 intellectual property case has officially come to a close.
