Yuga Labs, the parent company of the Bored Ape Yacht Club has reached a settlement with Thomas Lehman. The builder of websites and smart contracts for Ryder Ripp’s copycat project “RR/BAYC.”
Ripps’ project is a series of 10,000 NFTs that share the same name, features and traits as the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs which is part of a different court case involving trademark infringement.
As reported by CoinDesk, Yuga Labs’ complaint against Thomas Lehman was filed on January 20, 2023. It highlighted his role in coding and developing the RRBAYC RSVP Contract,” and “rrbayc.com” site to sell the copycat NFTs.
Settlement agreed
Speaking to CoinDesk, Lehman stated, “I am happy to have resolved the Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Lehman trademark lawsuit in the [ U.S. District Court] Northern District of New York. It was never my intention to harm Yuga Labs’ brand, and I reject all disparaging statements made about Yuga Labs and its founders. I appreciate their many positive contributions to the NFT space.”
Terms of the settlement include barring Lehman from using “any BAYC Mark,” destroying “any materials in his possession or control publicly displaying the BAYC Marks” and burning any RR/BAYC NFT he owns.
A Yuga Labs spokesperson said that they “are pleased that Mr Lehman acknowledged his role in assisting former cohorts, Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen, to infringe on Yuga Labs’ trademarks in developing, marketing and selling counterfeit NFTs.”
Although it has settled one case, Yuga Labs is still involved in an ongoing suit with Ryder Ripps. Bored Ape Yacht Club parent company claims that this project is a clear case of intellectual property (IP) infringement.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
