Bored Ape Yacht Club Creator Yuga Labs Has Sued an Artist for Trademark Infringement, False Advertising

Bored Ape Yacht Club's creator, Yuga Labs, has sued a conceptual artist named Ryder Ripps for trademark infringement as well as false advertising.

Both Yuga Labs and Ripps have been at odds with one another over the latter's NFT series called RR/BAYC. Yuga Labs had already sent a takedown request to Ripps last month, but withdrew it just hours later.

Ripps has responded to the lawsuit on his Twitter account.

Bored Ape Yacht Club Creator Sues Ryder Ripps

Bored Ape Yacht Club, a popular non-fungible token (NFT) collection, has made headlines multiple times in the past usually because of the jaw-dropping prices its NFTs have. This time, however, the NFT collection is in the news once more because its creator, Yuga Labs, has filed a lawsuit against conceptual artist Ryder Ripps.

According to a report by The Verge, at the center of the lawsuit is Ripps' NFT series RR/BAYC. The Verge says that "the series used BAYC images but connected them with a different crypto token and sold them for the equivalent of around $200 apiece, a bargain compared to the real thing, which currently sell for around $100,000 on the low end."

Ripps is being accused of trademark infringement as well as false advertising. Other offenses have been included in the lawsuit, but The Verge's report does not mention what they are.

As part of the lawsuit, Yuga Labs is asking court order demanding he cease infringing on BAYC's work, including a ban on using 'confusingly similar' domain names like apemarket.com." Financial damages have also been asked by the Bored Ape Yacht Club creator.

Ryder Ripps Responds to the Lawsuit

The conceptual artist has taken to Twitter to share his thoughts on the lawsuit that Yuga Labs has filed against him.

In his statement, Ripps says that the lawsuit "grossly mischaracterizes the RR/BAYC project." He also says that those who have purchases NFTs from series understands that they are not meant to be substitutes to the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, noting that buyers have explicitly acknowledged a disclaimer when making their purchases.

You can read his full statement below:

RR/BAYC NFT Series

According to its official website, the RR/BAYC NFT series "uses satire and appropriation to protest and educate people regarding The Bored Ape Yacht Club and the framework of NFTs."

The website also notes that the NFT collection was taken down last month due to a Digital Millenium Copyright (DMCA) takedown request sent by Yuga Labs. However, the request was withdrawn mere hours after it was issued.