Yuga Labs awarded $1.6M in landmark Ryder Ripps NFT case

A legal dispute between NFT artist Ryder Ripps, his business associate Jeremy Cahen, and Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection. In this case, the court has ruled in favor of Yuga Labs.

Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen launched a satirical NFT collection called the Ryder Ripps Bored Ape Yacht Club (RR/BAYC) in May 2022. These NFTs closely resembled the Bored Ape NFTs created by Yuga Labs, and Ripps claimed they were intended to parody and critique the original BAYC NFTs, suggesting they contained Nazi symbols.

Yuga Labs filed a lawsuit against Ripps and Cahen, alleging that their RR/BAYC NFTs were imitations that undermined the value of the original BAYC NFTs. The court granted Yuga Labs injunctive relief and monetary damages in April 2023.

The court's decision was based on the evidence presented, which showed that the defendants had used the BAYC Marks to create NFTs that closely resembled Yuga's NFTs. Even after legal proceedings were initiated by Yuga Labs to protect their trademark rights, Ripps and Cahen continued to market and promote their RR/BAYC NFT collection.

As a result of the court's ruling, Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen are ordered to pay Yuga Labs $1.57 million in damages from their profits, an additional $200,000 in statutory damages, and an undisclosed amount covering legal fees. The court's decision aimed to prevent the defendants from further infringing on Yuga Labs' trademarks and to compensate Yuga Labs for the damage caused by the imitation NFT collection.

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