WOW, the drama in the NFT world continues to heat up! Yuga Labs, the mastermind behind the legendary Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, has finally settled its legal dispute with Thomas Lehman outside of court. It all started when Lehman was accused of being involved in the development of a counterfeit NFT collection, the RR/BAYC, which was designed to mimic the original BAYC collection.
Yuga Labs wasn’t going to let this copycat slide, and they took legal action against Lehman in January for his role in the development of these fake tokens. But the good news is, after just a few weeks in court, the lawsuit was settled on February 6th!
Under the terms of the settlement, Thomas Lehman has been banned from getting involved in any future projects that may copy or confuse the BAYC NFTs. He’s also forbidden from using any social media accounts linked to the RR/BAYC collection.
Lehman has now come forward to say that he had no ill intentions against the Yuga Labs brand, and he’s rejected all the false information spread about him with the goal of damaging the company’s reputation.
A Yuga Labs spokesperson said they’re relieved that Lehman accepted the allegations against him and they’re ready to move forward. However, the legal battle is far from over, as Yuga Labs is still in hot pursuit of Jeremy Cohen and Ryder Ripps. They sued the pair last June for copying and selling fake BAYC NFTs and damaging the company’s reputation. And if the allegations are true, Ripps harvested over $5 million from selling these fake NFTs!
Precedent is now set for future IP and NFTs
This case highlights the importance of IP and trademarks in the world of NFTs.
NFTs are unique digital assets that are verified on a blockchain, making them one-of-a-kind and valuable. That’s why it’s so important to protect their intellectual property and trademarks. If someone were to copy or imitate an NFT, it would dilute the value and uniqueness of the original, and that’s what makes IP and trademark protection critical in the NFT world.
In the case of Ryder Ripps, Yuga Labs accused him of copying and selling fake NFTs that borrowed trademarks from Yuga.
Stay tuned for more updates in this ongoing NFT drama!